HELP: Information Needed On Aircraft (Probably Helicopter) Crash

Telephone call | June 27, 2010 | Yosemitest

[Yosemitest]

I request help
locating information for a neighbor
about a crash that killed her son, and put another man in intensive care.
This crash happened around June 21, 2010, give or take a day.
It happened on the other side of the world, Malaysia or Asia, I think.
The aircraft was probably an H-47, or a "Flying Crane," or a K-MAX, or similar type helicopter, doing "lift and haul work," usually heavy construction or logs.
Her son's name is "William Charles (Chuck) Scott," that was killed, he was probably the pilot, and was about 52 years old.
I don't have the injured man's name. He's in intensive care and can't talk.
They're not sure if he'll live.
I don't know the name of the company he was flying for.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Yosemitest]

I fear that the company providing my neighbor with the information about her son's death
will ONLY give her the basic information, and not the detailed information. And nobody knows, except her dead son, what happen.
Aircraft crashes happen quickly, and sometimes it takes years to figure out what happened.
I don know ... that her son DIDN'T LIKE ... flying the K-MAX Helicopter.

Sincerely, Yosemitest.

[donna]

She could contact her Congressman and ask him to look into it.

[Yosemitest]

Typo correction:

I DO know ... that her son DIDN'T LIKE ... flying the K-MAX Helicopter.

[Yosemitest]

We’ve told her that, thanks.

[Drago]

Some AP info.:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0IPXxM7V9VkuCYyf7sezTS-POaQD9GJCRE00

U.S. Division of the company:
http://www.ericksonaircrane.com/

[Yosemitest]

That looks like, what I'm looking for. THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH!!!

[Drago]

No problem...it looks like they operate Sikorsky S64’s in Malaysia: (Not Kaman “K-MAX’s”)
http://www.ericksonaircrane.com/globalpresence.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-64_Skycrane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-max

[Drago]

All the current news write-ups:
http://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=dRfEkeJy8WLalgMmmxeT-R0ON8YiM&hl=en-US&ned=us

[Yosemitest]

Thanks for both post.
I'm a little busy now printing stuff.

[Yosemitest]

Helicopter crashes in Malaysia; US pilot killed"

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A helicopter used to transport timber crashed in a remote Malaysian rain forest on Borneo island, killing the American pilot and injuring the co-pilot, officials said Sunday.

The helicopter went down Friday in a logging zone in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state, a district police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

The American pilot was killed and his co-pilot was hospitalized, the official said Saturday. Authorities have not determined the cause of the accident.

Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper and national news agency, Bernama, identified the pilot who was killed as William Charles Scott, 51, from Meridian, Mississippi, and the other man as David William Bergin, 49, from Bend, Oregon.

Bergin, who had a fractured hand, spinal injury and other bruises, told the New Straits Times at a Sarawak hospital that the helicopter went into an uncontrollable spin before it crashed.

"That's all I could recall. It happened in a flash," the Times on Sunday quoted him as saying.

A nurse at Sarawak's Columbia Asia Medical Center confirmed that Bergin was a patient, but said he was not able to come to the phone. She could not give information about when he might be released from the hospital.

A U.S. Embassy representative in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's main city, said she was aware of the accident but could not release the pilots' identities because of the embassy's privacy policy.

The helicopter was operated by the Malaysian subsidiary of Portland, Oregon-based Erickson Air-Crane Inc., which harvests timber for Malaysian loggers in Borneo. A company employee based in Sarawak also confirmed the crash and the pilot's death, but she could not give details and declined to be identified.

---

Thanks again, to everyone.

[DoorGunner]

>>”..the helicopter went into an uncontrollable spin before it crashed.”

That indicates a “tail rotor failure,” Either at a hover, or at low speed. The tail rotor counteracts the torque of the engine turning the main rotor. When the tail rotor quits, the fuselage naturally begins rotation opposite to the main rotor.

When in forward flight, the apparent wind form its passage through the air tends to keep the tail where it belongs. I don’t know how well that would work in the “flying crane — it looks like a smallish tail, for the torque they must generate.

Your friend may want to know this, but maybe not. If she is desperate for more information, she MIGHT try contacting Evergreen Aviation (503.472.9361). They are a competitor, based near Portland. They fly that same helicopter, and will probably know more details, and might tell her more if she tells them she is the pilot’s mother.

DG

p.s. This type of accident is not likely pilot error.

[Yosemitest]

Here's a topo map of Malaysia's Boreno Island.

[Yosemitest]

Here's a topo map of Malaysia's Boreno Island.

[Wings-n-Wind]

Governments around the world usually maintain a regulatory and/or investigative agency for aviation accidents.

A 3rd world government...
With an accident in a remote location...
--AND--
A non-commercial/non-passenger operation--
Hmmm....

The basics are all anyone will likely found out. (Unless there is private industry/insurance experts who will sort through the wreckage and witness statements to ascertain causes)

Without some concrete evidence of cause -- placing blame and recovering damages nearly impossible. IOW -an aircraft with a bad reputation or known design flaws -- is NOT proof certain of the cause of a single incident or accident.

Hope this helps

I am sorry for your friend's loss --

[Yosemitest]

"This type of accident is not likely pilot error."

That's what I believe, also.
And with over 25 years in the Air Force Air Traffic Control experience, and 5 years of FAA Air Traffic Control experience,
I'm pretty confident of that belief.

[Yosemitest]

Thank you. I’ll pass it on, to his mother.

[Hulka]

The FAA and NTSB will likely become involved, especially in a 3rd world incident where they do not have the expertise for mishap investigations.

The company would welcome such oversight and assistance from US government because they know the US investigators will be first looking for cause, not blame.

The manufacturer wants to know the real cause because they might need to fix something. IF the cause is determined and it turns out it happens again, and in court it is shown “they” knew the cause beforehand and did nothing about it, the company would be sued out of existence.

It is in their best interest of everyone to find out the facts.

Cause can help determine the sequence of events that happened. Then “blame” may be determined.

Having a third world country ban American assistance would be a sign of something fishy.

[Wings-n-Wind]

I hope you are right--

But FAA/NTSB teams jurisdiction ends at US Borders
-- OR --
..In some cases involving joint certified operations the teams have extended jurisdiction).
(e.g. One of our airliners crashes in europe -- or a European commercial bird governed by joint certificate operations is lost in Asia...

Otherwise -- they only go where they are invited by the governing jurisdiction / nation -- and the bills are paid by same.

I would look to the insurance investigators for expertise and outcome -- they have a dog in the hunt.... and will usually come up with the answers.

I agree with DG.... smells like tail rotor failure.... or aerodynamic "blanking" due to rotorwash bouncing of the ground or a hillside and effectively "stalling" the tail rotor.

[RaceBannon]

The K-MAX wasn’t as intuitive as others, but it was a very stable aircraft

Let me read this more, I still know people at KAMAN

[Yosemitest]

It's strange.
The "American pilot killed in Borneo copter crash: police" article from "The Hindustan Times" said:

Abu Bakar said
Scoot's (misspelled SCOTT'S) body had been flown to Sarawak
where a post-mortem has been carried out.
Authorities were now working with the US Embassy to have the pilot's body flown home.

But when company officials spoke to Charles Scott's mother, they told her:

They couldn't locate the body.
Charles has a paper on file stating he wished to be cremated and the company, if they find the body would like to do it here, before they ship it home.

We told his mother, don't let them cremate the body there. Bring it home and do an autopsy here.