Two troopers killed in helo crash monitoring Charlottesville protests

Offier Down Memorial Page ^ | 12 August A.D. 2017 | Staff

[lightman]

Trooper Pilot Berke Bates and Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen were killed when their Bell 407 helicopter crashed into a wooded area in a residential neighborhood on Old Farm Road in Albemarle County, Virginia.

They were in the area to monitor civil unrest that was occurring in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a large protest. The helicopter had just taken off to monitor the Virginia governor's motorcade after he arrived in the area to monitor the situation. The helicopter experienced some sort of issue before crashing into the trees and becoming engulfed in flames.

Trooper Bates and Lieutenant Cullen were killed in the crash.

Trooper Bates had served with the Virginia State Police for 13 years and was assigned to the Aviation Unit.

Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:

Colonel W. Steven Flaherty Virginia State Police 7700 Midlothian Turnpike North Chesterfield, VA 23235

[dsc]

One lesson to learn from this is never get on a helicopter, unless someone’s life is at stake, or there is a military necessity.

Just say no.

This mission could have been accomplished by a drone.

[Maudeen]

we’ll know soon

Will we really know exactly what happened? I’m skeptical these days about investigations.

[TexasGator]

read the article

[fella]

"What the heck was the governor doing there on a Saturday?"

He was there to grandstand in front of all those cameras. These troopers died for McAuliffe's vanity.

[brucedickinson]

https://youtu.be/yzRgvK5Fq-A

here is a link to the video of the car backing up rapidly

[skimbell]

One of the self-proclaimed “geniuses” at the DUmp last night took off and told all of the lemmings that “it has to be asked”, and then started wondering if the helo was shot down by RW’ers.

[Donnafrflorida]

That is the first thing i noticed. Also were those 6 or 7 guys with bats who converged on him at one time out of nowhere CHASING HIM AND THEY FINALLY CAUGHT UP. And why ohio tags.

[WomBom]

I stand corrected, thanks for pointing that out.

[USNBandit]

In a normal set of conditions, loss of an engine is a big deal, but doesn't have to be fatal if you can execute a proper autorotation to a reasonable landing zone. One rule is that it is almost always better to shoot a good auto to a bad spot than a bad auto to a good spot.

My guess is that it will end up being a more catastrophic failure than that. There are some failures that are very difficult to diagnose quickly enough to recover from. There are some failures that are unrecoverable.

I have a little over 5000 hours of flight time with 1000 in helicopters, but I haven't flown this Bell product or its sisters. I know some guys don't like the way the transmission works on the 4 bladed Hueys, but haven't heard anything negative about the 407.

[Celtic Conservative]

Prayers up to the family and friends of the fallen:

May the Lord bless and keep you,
May He make his face shine upon you,
May He be gracious unto you,
And give you His peace,

Amen.

[WomBom]

Love the insight, I am a 600 hour Fixed Wing/ IFR Pilot.. only 15 hours I an eggbeater