FATAL BRANTLY CRASH

[Ron Spiker]

Here is a link to the obituary for Paul.
http://lubbockonline.com/obituaries/201 ... 1290043853

[edspilot]

Ron:

So sorry to hear. Prayers have and will continue to be sent for Paul's family. Likewise, to to Steve and his family.

I help with money for Paul's flowers. Just let me know when to send it.


Dean

[seneca2e]

I just saw this terrible news. Is there any update on Steve? The last I knew he was selling his Enstrom. I guess he must have sold it and apparently decided to buy another Brantly. He knew the machines well as a former owner as I'm sure so did Paul Beach. This makes the crash even harder to fathom. Even experienced pilots and mechanics are human though and whatever the reasons for this tragic crash-be they human or mechanical-will hopefully be known.

[Ron Spiker]

Steve did sell his Enstrom in October, but it didn't take too long to be thinking about looking for something else to replace it. Paul's Brantly was one that he was considering, and that's why they were flying together.

Steve is still in ICU. His injuries are major.

[seneca2e]

Thanks for the update Ron. A lot of the Brantly accidents it seems have involved rollovers but in most of these the occupants walk away with minor dings. From the discription it looks like this one was a longitudinol rollover(endo) vs the usually less serious lateral rollover.

I'm beginning to think demo flights, check rides, and aggressive instruction manuevers constitute a huge percentage of Brantly(and other) helicopter accidents.

[Ron Spiker]

NTSB Identification: CEN11LA067
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, November 14, 2010 in Post, TX
Aircraft: BRANTLY B-2B, registration: N2268U
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On November 14, 2010, approximately 1545 central standard time, a Brantly B-2B helicopter, N2268U, was substantially damaged upon impact with terrain while attempting to take off from the Beach Ranch Airport (2TE7), Post, Texas. The private pilot was fatally injured and the pilot-rated passenger was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 local flight. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.

There was one witness to the accident who was related to the passenger. According to a statement provided by the witness, the flight was intended to demonstrate the condition of the helicopter for a potential purchase. The owner sat in the right seat and the passenger sat in the left seat. Two sets of controls had been installed in the helicopter; it is unknown who had control of the helicopter. The helicopter performed a rolling style take off and had only reached a few feet elevation before the helicopter "twisted" and pitched slightly downward. The "toes" of the helicopter skids began scraping along the ground as the helicopter continued forward. The helicopter traveled past the take off area and into tall grass. The witness then observed the helicopter pitch sharply over as if the skids had hit an obstacle. The helicopter hit the ground nose-first, and rolled over.

[N2285U]

Interesting. Pure speculation here, but with the helicopter "twisting" and pitch down there was most likely a loss of power to the main rotor. If it was just tail rotor failure I do not think there would be a pitch down. It will be interesting to see if the engine failed. If not, it could be a failure of the clutch or Formsprag. The witness did not say if the engine quit or sputtered, so it sounds like it was making power.

Another thought is that a PC link or main blade could have failed, etc. I am hoping the NTSB comes up with something. It does not make sense right now.

This is all pure speculation of course.

Does anyone know how Mr. Chenoweth is doing?

[Ron Spiker]

Although I have my own ideas of what may have happened, as I'm sure many others do, I'll wait to see the final NTSB report. I don't see how speculations do any good in a situation like this.

Mr. Chenoweth is not doing very good at all. I talk to his son frequently. Out of respect for his privacy and since I do not have permission to do so, I will not list all of his injuries. He is busted up pretty bad, though, and still in ICU.

[N2285U]

That is not good. Sorry to hear that about him. I will pray for his recovery. I too would like to see the full NTSB report. I am definitely not trying to speculate to prove anything. I just am deeply concerned about what happened. Before the limited information in the report I assumed they just caught a skid and flipped. Now with the new information it appears there was a mechanical failure of some sort. Hopefully they come up with a solid reason for the accident.

[seneca2e]

Is there any update on Steve's condition? Everyone needs to remember him in your prayers.

[scrapper]

fwiw N2268U- Paul Beach's craft., had an ad on used- helicopter which had expired, listed 8-10-2010.
Had he just purchased this craft? Or was that his ad to sell it.

///
Terrible tragedy, my best thoughts to the families.

[Ron Spiker]

An update on Steve. Still in pretty bad condition, but making some progress. It will be quite a while before he will be able to get out of the hospital, and a lifetime to deal with the injuries.

[Ron Spiker]

With permission from Steve, here are most of the injuries he has from the accident.

Broken collar bone, broken shoulder, broken ribs, broken back (shattered vertabrae which damaged the spinal cord), both lungs traumatized from the crash which caused them to collapse several times. The spinal cord injuries have left him paralyzed from the chest down. He's been on a respirator/ventilator since the accident to help him breathe. He's now breathing mostly on his own with oxygen. He's just now starting to be able to talk a little bit. He has been in ICU since the accident. He had pnenomia in his lungs but that is under control now.

Since the accident I've been sending notes to him via the hospital on-line patient email service. If anyone else would care to do the same, here is a link to that web page: [update 12/21/2010 - he's no longer at this hospital, so link removed]

For the room number I've just been putting in "ICU". They should know after this many weeks where he's at.

[bryancobb]

Has anyone heard from Mr. Steve?
How is he recovering?

[Ron Spiker]

I got an update yesterday that he is recovering well. Learning how to get around in a wheel chair and to do other items for himself. His attitude is good, and I'm certain this is having a huge impact on how well he's progressing.

He is back in Dallas now, closer to family.