Lucky to survive helicopter ditching

[pelmet]

The Robinson R22 helicopter, German registration D-HDIM, was operating VFR from CYFB Iqaluit,
NU to BGGH Nuuk, Greenland. The pilot autorotated and ditched the aircraft in the Davis Strait,
204 nm east of CYFB, reportedly due to a broken drive belt. He was wearing an immersion suit
and managed to take the life raft while exiting the aircraft. The aircraft sank. There was no ELT
signal captured. Although there were several alerting devices on board the aircraft, the pilot only
had time to retrieve the life raft before the aircraft sank. He managed to swim to a nearby ice floe.
The pilot was being tracked by a responsible person. When the target had not moved for a period
of 30 minutes, authorities were advised and search & rescue efforts commenced. Rescue efforts
were affected by dense fog. The pilot floated on the ice floe until noticing the lights of the Coast
Guard vessel 3 miles away. He fired a flare to attract attention and was rescued by helicopter
approximately 32 hours after ditching. He was not injured.

[linecrew]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scot ... -1.3168690

[Rookie50]

It's disturbing how frequently there is no ELT signal. My trust in them certainly has been impaired and other devices are essential I now believe.

[photofly]

Unless there's an impact, an ELT won't activate. Something to remember when ditching.

[The Mole]

ELT's don't work under water

[single_swine_herder]

ELT's don't work under water

Especially under salt water.

It would have performed superbly if it were floating or a few feet above the ocean. Salt water is the best "ground system" available for radio signals.

[A Regulator]

I certainly hope these people have to put up a bond that would pay for there rescue otherwise it is the taxpayer who pays.

[godsrcrazy]

I certainly hope these people have to put up a bond that would pay for there rescue otherwise it is the taxpayer who pays.

I couldn't agree more. I personally am sick of seeing my tax dollars paying for thrill seekers rescue. Especially when they are not even Canadian.

[digits_]

I certainly hope these people have to put up a bond that would pay for there rescue otherwise it is the taxpayer who pays.

I couldn't agree more. I personally am sick of seeing my tax dollars paying for thrill seekers rescue. Especially when they are not even Canadian.

Yeah, and if they refuse to sign a bond or pay, throw them back in the water, that will teach 'm !

[GyvAir]

digits_

I think he means prior to embarking, not once you can't feel your feet anymore.

I’ve read your account of your little northern adventure that many would have called foolhardy, excessively dangerous, etc. etc. etc. (Personally, I’d have happily tagged along.. being too lazy to have made such a trip happen myself!)

Did you look into any sort of extraction insurance before you set out? Were you encouraged to make such arrangements? Is there such a thing even available?

[photofly]

There nothing astonishingly more risky about crossing the Davis Strait compared to crossing the Gulf of Mexico, or Lake Simco, for that matter. You take off, you fly, you land. His drive belt could have snapped over Georgian Bay, would you be a bitchin' and a carpin' about foreigners needing emergency assistance if he needed hauling out of the water somewhere in the middle of Ontario?

[GyvAir]

I imagine the bill (and the risk to rescue personnel) for finding and lifting someone out of Georgian Bay would pale in comparison to the bill for locating and plucking someone off an ice flow somewhere north of 60.

[upintheair_]

I certainly hope these people have to put up a bond that would pay for there rescue otherwise it is the taxpayer who pays.

I couldn't agree more. I personally am sick of seeing my tax dollars paying for thrill seekers rescue. Especially when they are not even Canadian.

Yeah, well that's the way it is. It's the same reason the North Shore Search and Rescue in Vancouver doesn't charge. Because people won't or can't pay. So what then? Leave them to die? We live in Canada a semi-socialist country. In the USA sure, you would be charged... likely over charged... then you declare bankruptcy because you can't afford to pay?

[Meatservo]

There nothing astonishingly more risky about crossing the Davis Strait compared to crossing the Gulf of Mexico, or Lake Simco, for that matter. You take off, you fly, you land. His drive belt could have snapped over Georgian Bay, would you be a bitchin' and a carpin' about foreigners needing emergency assistance if he needed hauling out of the water somewhere in the middle of Ontario?

Maybe. It's not my impression that single-engine helicopter pilots are in the habit of flying over large bodies of water beyond gliding distance from shore.

[photofly]

I imagine the bill (and the risk to rescue personnel) for finding and lifting someone out of Georgian Bay would pale in comparison to the bill for locating and plucking someone off an ice flow somewhere north of 60.

Are you now the arbiter of what bills are worth paying from public funds? the first $10k of SAR is free, then the meter's ticking? "Sorry chaps, this one has a broken leg. The lifting sling is free but the stretcher board takes us over budget. Better head back and leave him here."

[photofly]

Maybe. It's not my impression that single-engine helicopter pilots are in the habit of flying over large bodies of water beyond gliding distance from shore.

With great respect, your unverified and unresearched impressions of what helicopter pilots do or don't do is hardly a basis for a national SAR policy.

"We'll only rescue you if you make ordinary flights, nothing unusual, as Meatservo understands the word."


Out of interest, the Danish aviation authority (that administers Greenland airspace) does require SAR insurance for aircraft making the crossing. I guess some will be sorry that he didn't make it another 50 miles so it wouldn't be a Canadian problem. I'm glad this country was there to help a pilot in trouble.

[GyvAir]

What happens when you find yourself in a hospital in a place where your OHIP card doesn’t mean a thing? You find yourself with the possibility of having nobody to fix up your broken leg, or prescribe you that antibiotic that’s going to improve your quality of life into the future unless you cough up what to most of us is going potentially going to be an impossibly large sum of money. So, what is the common expectation? You buy out of country health insurance.

You want to drive your Ontario registered and insurec car down to Colombia? I suspect checking in with your insurance company first would be prudent.

I don’t expect much argument on these points, so why is it such and up-in-arms issue to suggest that taking your boat, skis, yak, snowmobile or aircraft way off into the hinterlands require purchasing an appropriate rider on your insurance policy, to cover SAR costs, should they arise? Regardless of your nationality.

[photofly]

Because, in Canada, the government provides an SAR service, at public expense. The up-in-arms issue is that the Davis Strait is "too far away" (read "I don't want to go there so you shouldn't either") for the policy to apply, or that it should be applied to noble Canadians but not for to Johnny Foreigner when he needs urgent assistance.

[Diadem]

I imagine the bill (and the risk to rescue personnel) for finding and lifting someone out of Georgian Bay would pale in comparison to the bill for locating and plucking someone off an ice flow somewhere north of 60.

Actually, the military and the Coast Guard receive the same amount of funding whether they're needed one time or a hundred, so the money is going to be spent either way. If they weren't rescuing someone, they wouldn't sit in port saving their fuel, because every dollar they don't use this year will be deducted from their budget next year, so they go out and steam around if they don't have anything better to do. It's the same reason F-18 pilots do "training flights" to Calgary during Stampede and the Okanagan during golf season: they have to fly a certain amount every year, even if it's not operationally required.

[thirdtimecharm]

I have heard stories from some of the Resolute Twin Otter gang about some of the North Pole crazies and how one or two of the expeditions seemed to be trying to add to the drama of the trip by orchestrating some sort of crazy rescue- setting up what seemed to be purposefully lousy strips and suchlike.

This story sounds too "perfect" to me... do you think that there might be an element of that in this?

I mean, who had heard of this guy until he ditched?

[photofly]

That he deliberately flew a $100k helicopter out over open water to ditch it, for a stunt?

Er...no.

[thirdtimecharm]

That he deliberately flew a $100k helicopter out over open water to ditch it, for a stunt?

Er...no.

I think that you may be underestimating the pressure these crazy adventurers are under to be noticed and raise funds for further crazy adventures. It takes a lot to get noticed in this day and age.

[Gannet167]

Apparently 100LL was notamed as unavailable, and had been for some time. There's a picture of him filling up his machine with gas cans, I wonder where he found fuel and if he was using the right stuff? If he put regular unleaded in an engine not intended for that, I would suggest that he bears the blame for the accident and should've won a Darwin award.

[photofly]

That he deliberately flew a $100k helicopter out over open water to ditch it, for a stunt?

Er...no.

I think that you may be underestimating the pressure these crazy adventurers are under to be noticed and raise funds for further crazy adventures. It takes a lot to get noticed in this day and age.

Putting a boring helicopter into the drink is not really the kind of thing an adventurer wants to be noticed for.

[photofly]

Apparently 100LL was notamed as unavailable, and had been for some time. There's a picture of him filling up his machine with gas cans, I wonder where he found fuel and if he was using the right stuff? If he put regular unleaded in an engine not intended for that, I would suggest that he bears the blame for the accident and should've won a Darwin award.

There are lots of pictures of me filling my (and other) airplanes from orange cans. There might be one on the same ramp, if that's CYFB. 100LL in them, every time. You really are reaching!