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Passenger Grabs Controls After Pilot Collapses
When Carli McConaughy pulled on the big control column in the middle of the helicopter she was flying in over Honolulu last week, she had no idea what she was doing but she likely saved her own life and those of her fiancé and the unconscious pilot beside her. (www.avweb.com) 기타...
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Now that is amazing! The chance of surviving a helicopter crash with only rudimentary cyclic controli is probably less than winning the powerball. Everything had to have gone just right. Glad all survide.
As a former rotorhead, I have to believe that she pulled up on the collective and not the cyclic as the article states between the seats. Now for the unintiated, it could be confusing as to what works what. Did she grab the collective or the cyclic? Unless there is a different article by a more knowlegable reporter I doubt we will actually know. As a crew chief, I loved practicing auto-rotations, it was almost like a roller coaster ride, depending on if trying for a distance one or a get to the ground easy (paraphrasing) one.
The R44 has a center cyclic control between the seats that branches right and left. For rides, usually the left branch, left side pedals, and left collective are removed. It probably was the center cyclic bar that brought the nose up before impact after the pilot slumped forward. As you said though, it’s just the news. Who knows?
congrats on your lucky guess. If she had ever operated a bobcat to do land renovation, then the helocopter was not entirely new to her. But, not entirely equivalent. Heartfelt congrats are in order here and so offered.
very lucky
Awesome ..
Does the collective drop in an R44 if a pilot releases it? Pulling back on the cyclic just before a ditching would change the attitude to a belly forward smack instead of a catch the skids and forward roll over crash. Had to be timed pretty good.
