wiley_tom
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2010
- Messages
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Here's Irony for you, the crash of an S-76 where the 406mhz ELT went off continuously until that battery was drained, but was never picked up because of the damaged antenna, brings a conclusion that more aircraft need 406mhz ELT's!
Maybe, just maybe, they should consider the failure a reason to look at a different technology!
S-76 Crash Prompts Calls for ELT Improvements
by Gordon Gilbert
- June 24, 2016, 10:32 AM
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is seeking improved emergency locator transmitter (ELT) standards as a result of its investigation into a fatal controlled-flight-into-terrain accident involving an air medical Sikorsky S-76 in night VMC on May 31, 2013. Both pilots and the two paramedics aboard were killed. The twin-turbine rotorcraft departed at about midnight and crashed just one mile from its departure point, but it took search-and-rescue teams more than five hours to find the wreckage. According to the recently released investigation report, the helicopters satellite tracking system reported a takeoff message and then went inactive. The search-and-rescue satellite system did not detect a signal from the emergency locator transmitter.
The TSB issued 14 recommendations in all, several of them calling for Transport Canada, ICAO and RTCA to establish improved ELT crash survivability standards. Additionally, the TSB recommends that Transport Canada require all Canadian- and non-Canadian-registered aircraft operating in the country be equipped with a 406-MHz ELT. The Board also wants ELT hook and loop fasteners to be prohibited. The Board took aim at amending operating regulations to better define the visual references required to reduce the risks associated with night VFR.
Other recommendations: instrument currency and proficiency requirements should be established for flying in night VFR; terrain awareness and warning systems should be required for commercial helicopters that operate at night or IMC; clearer means are needed for distinguishing the different duties between the PIC and SIC; and all commercial helicopter operators should have to implement a formal and approved SMS.
Maybe, just maybe, they should consider the failure a reason to look at a different technology!
S-76 Crash Prompts Calls for ELT Improvements
by Gordon Gilbert
- June 24, 2016, 10:32 AM
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is seeking improved emergency locator transmitter (ELT) standards as a result of its investigation into a fatal controlled-flight-into-terrain accident involving an air medical Sikorsky S-76 in night VMC on May 31, 2013. Both pilots and the two paramedics aboard were killed. The twin-turbine rotorcraft departed at about midnight and crashed just one mile from its departure point, but it took search-and-rescue teams more than five hours to find the wreckage. According to the recently released investigation report, the helicopters satellite tracking system reported a takeoff message and then went inactive. The search-and-rescue satellite system did not detect a signal from the emergency locator transmitter.
The TSB issued 14 recommendations in all, several of them calling for Transport Canada, ICAO and RTCA to establish improved ELT crash survivability standards. Additionally, the TSB recommends that Transport Canada require all Canadian- and non-Canadian-registered aircraft operating in the country be equipped with a 406-MHz ELT. The Board also wants ELT hook and loop fasteners to be prohibited. The Board took aim at amending operating regulations to better define the visual references required to reduce the risks associated with night VFR.
Other recommendations: instrument currency and proficiency requirements should be established for flying in night VFR; terrain awareness and warning systems should be required for commercial helicopters that operate at night or IMC; clearer means are needed for distinguishing the different duties between the PIC and SIC; and all commercial helicopter operators should have to implement a formal and approved SMS.
