…the main rotor blades can be seen on top of the fuselage.
Look again; the fuselage is inverted and what you’re looking at are the landing skids.
This video shows the rotor blade assembly, still spinning, as it falls into the water. This link starts at the point showing the spinning assembly:
But operator of helicopter says main rotor blades were not on helicopter as it was falling. Perhaps he was misunderstood or just confused in the stress of the situation.
(Some people say you can see main rotor detached and falling with fuselage, but I point out that main rotor sits well above fuselage on slender pieces.)
Still too much hasty looking and bleeping by people not familiar with the model of helicopter - and not thinking.
The photo that accompanies this article shows the fuselage upside down. The landing skids are clearly visible above the cabin. It also shows the rotor blades and transmission separated from the helicopter. They are circled in red.
Thankyou for facts.
The end of the video shows the fuselage being pulled out of the water - with main rotor attached to it in normal position.
I erred, hard to see rotor, easy to see skids.
No surprise if main rotor broke off on impact.
NTSB say main rotor has not been found yet.
This article in Avweb. This very article that we are reading and commenting on right now. Look at the photo that accompanies this article.
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Yeah, lets give up cars and other vehicles, including Boeing and Airbus airplanes for the same reason…
My point being that other vehicles are not rotor wing vehicles.
I look for full length because one possibility is a main rotor blade struck tail boom.
Delamination of a blade is one way that happens.
Main rotor assembly fell into the water several hundred feet away from the fuselage. And still spinning.
He was correct, a more clear photo on large display allows one to see fuselage upside down with two skids visible on upper side.
Does the 206L have a ‘teetering’ rotor design, which I understand to be prone to ‘mast bumping’?
The 407’s rotor hub looks very different from 206 series: Bell 407 - Wikipedia, which says 206 has teetering design while 407 has a ‘soft in plane’ design.
Low-g condition - Wikipedia
Thanks but indistinct photos are not good enough.
The NTSB talks as though it has better photos.
Talking of taking a class in photo analysis is silly.
Says it has now recovered the rotor assembly, transmission and roof beam as well as tail rotor, according to a later Avweb article.
It invites people to provide photos they have, I think that would help determine sequence of failures.
There are classes in photo analysis you can take at your local school. Although the image is zoomed, it clearly shows the rotor assembly impacting the water nearly 200 yards away from the body, or fuselage if you will, of the helicopter. Also feel free to search the web for the video. It’s out there.
Silly and ineffective.
You can find image enhancement software but it loses detail, I’ve experienced that with video from landings on the moon and with CT scans. (Equipment and software has to be set up well.)
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You just don’t want to understand. Having someone else be right is just not acceptable to you. GO WATCH THE VIDEO.
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