Helicopters are inherently unstable
Mar 12th, 2009, 11:12 PM
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Helicopters are inherently unstable
Mar 13th, 2009, 03:34 AM
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And the FAA certifiers (http://tinyurl.com/2d93w8
) described this one as the "safest", though
don't recall seeing any in H
I used for touring.
) described this one as the "safest", though
don't recall seeing any in HI used for touring.
Mar 13th, 2009, 08:19 AM
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We have a friend that used to live in Hawaii and worked there as an ER nurse. She tells stories about helicopter crashes when she had to deal with the victims that survived (seldom and few). She hates them with a passion.
However, that was not enough to stop us from doing one of the helicopter tours of Kauai. It was great and of course we lived through it!
However, that was not enough to stop us from doing one of the helicopter tours of Kauai. It was great and of course we lived through it!
Mar 13th, 2009, 09:01 AM
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The title is correct - helicopters are inherently unstable but I doubt if that had anything to do with this crash. Instability in this sense is an aeronautical term that simply means the aircraft must be positively controlled at all times or it will behave in unpredictable ways.
No matter what kind of aircraft you're in, when you're thirty miles out to sea over frigid waters and have a mechanical failure that degrades the ability to continue flying, you're in deep trouble. In fact, a helicopter might be more survivable in these circumstances than a fixed wing aircraft because of its ability to auto rotate.
No matter what kind of aircraft you're in, when you're thirty miles out to sea over frigid waters and have a mechanical failure that degrades the ability to continue flying, you're in deep trouble. In fact, a helicopter might be more survivable in these circumstances than a fixed wing aircraft because of its ability to auto rotate.
