Helicopter crash an explanation guess

[AlwaysAway2]

From the description of eyewitnesses it sounds like engine/mechanical failure. Spinning suggests rear rotor failure. Weather was good on the night so that's not looking like a cause. Years ago, there was a fly on the wall documentary following the training of army air corps. pilots. They were trained to land if the main engine failed. I think that can only happen if the rear rotor continues to spin to counteract the rotation of the main blades. Not enough height and forward momentum combined with a lack of rear rotor means the pilot had little chance of brining it down safely. Another hundred metres and they would be in the trees and may have survived.

Interesting. Who was at the controls. Oddly there were two pilots on board.

[jon1959]

Interesting. Who was at the controls. Oddly there were two pilots on board.

The reports late yesterday listed Eric Swaffer as the pilot and his partner, Izabela Roza Lechowicz (who is also a qualified pilot) as a passenger on the flight. Not odd.