The NTSB has recovered the last of the Bell 206 LongRanger helicopter that went down in the Hudson River last week. The rotor assembly, transmission and roof beam from the helicopter are now at a secure NTSB facility for examination. Videos and photos show those parts separated from the helicopter before the cabin and part of the tail boom fell into the water off Jersey City, killing a Spanish family and the pilot.
I await the outcome of this investigation more than any other. I have always been a big fan of the Jet Ranger and Long Ranger since I was a kid. I still remember the introduction of the Long Ranger and the article in FLYING magazine. The Jet Ranger is the safest single engine machine flying, so the result of this investigation is crucial to know the cause.
I’m interested in this one too. Shouldn’t take them too long to sort out what happened. I’m thinking the cause could only be one of two scenarios. Mechanical/ structural fatigue failure, or improper pilot response to an engine power loss.
It is a classic, I remember Bell showing it at YVR early in its model life.
But better is now flying, the Bell 407 which does not have the teetering rotor design.
Helicopters are tricky to fly.
Pros do and precisely, an OHL pilot was renowned for positioning chunks of transmission towers within 6 inches. (Scary job was people strapped to lower part of tower ready to insert bolts to secure it.)
Nervous-wing machines I called them when I worked for OHL. Require maintenance. One OHL pilot I met had a Super Puma roll over on liftoff, fortunately survived curved blades trying to go through roof. An actuator or such had failed to disengage on shutdown, helicopter had been moved between landing and liftoff - it immediately banked to fly the heading it had shut down at.
Your suggestion is on the top of my list of reasons for what might have happened. I do not think it was mast bumping or anything that the pilot had control over.