Leicester Crash

[derek-33]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7915971/leicester-city-helicopter-crash-cause-report/

i always though any nut on an aircraft had a locking pin in it

[bhg481]

It's a long time since I worked with aircraft and they certainly did then but I noticed watching a programme about the red-arrows pilot killed when his ejector-seat went off when he was on the ground, that the shackle connecting his parachute to the seat was held with a nyloc nut ie. no locking pin.

[johnk]

nylocs are very good and shouldn't come off the bolt even if they are loose. This one must have been faulty of there wasn't enough thread to engage the nylon end of the nut.

[bhg481]

johnk - I didn't say there was a nyloc involved in the Leicester crash, I merely pointed out that I have seen them used in other situations on aircraft. I agree that nylocs shouldn't be a problem so long as they are only used once.

[Quizmonster]

“The helicopter crash which killed the chairman of Leicester City and four other people was caused by a pin which had come loose in the tail rotor control mechanism, a report has revealed.
The Air Accident Investigation Branch found that the pin had become disconnected, resulting in the helicopter becoming unstable and preventing the pilot from controlling it.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/investigators-reveal-cause-of-leicester-helicopter-crash/ar-BBQzQPu?ocid=spartandhp
The fact that the tail rotor had failed was clear from film of the helicopter’s take-off and fatal spin, as I understand it. If the tail rotor fails for whatever reason, the helicopter’s fuselage then starts to spin in the opposite direction from the main rotor. The aircraft becomes uncontrollable, as noted in the link.
I am presenting these facts in the hope that someone may be able to tell me why – in virtually every air-crash in close proximity to people or public buildings – one or more of the tabloids will publish a “HERO PILOT” type of headline. Often, we’re told the pilot deliberately steered clear of people or a village school and so forth.
Generally, of course, they did no such thing, just as they did no such thing in the Leicester crash…for the simple reason that they couldn’t!
I am, naturally, saddened by the deaths of the crew and passengers in any crash, but I fail to understand why creating a false tale of heroism helps.

[JF85]

It had occurred to me, too, Quizmonster. Surely it would be in the pilot's interest to avoid hitting a solid structure anyway, irrespective of any people on the ground?

[Hopkirk]

If he did have an option of which way to move, I suspect aiming for the car park was more in hope of landing than avoiding people on the ground.