wymberley Posted November 25, 2017 Report Share Posted November 25, 2017 So, a fatal accident inquiry to commence in late 2018. One has to ask what in real terms is this likely to achieve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ordnance Posted November 25, 2017 Report Share Posted November 25, 2017 (edited) To gain knowledge of what happened and try to prevent other crashes i would assume, plus they probably have to have one by law. Edited November 25, 2017 by ordnance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 Another long winded, expensive, drawn out, pointless inquiry that will probably confirm pilot error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krugerandsmith Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 23 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: Another long winded, expensive, drawn out, pointless inquiry that will probably confirm pilot error. Yes they will say that he wasn't watching the fuel gauge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 Or that he was not in control of the fuel system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-dot Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 I heard rumours of a love triangle..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Geordie Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 I believe the idea is to not only gain in depth information on the cause of, and how to prevent future incidents such as these! And ultimately, to try and give the families of those who tragically died, a difinitive answer as to what went wrong. I know it will not bring loved ones back, but sometimes simply knowing the truth can bring closure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sha Bu Le Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 6 hours ago, krugerandsmith said: Yes they will say that he wasn't watching the fuel gauge. Don't know so I'll ask the question. Is there an audio alarm when the fuel is getting low? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 (edited) In short, all hell lets loose and these alarms can be cancelled - obviously in so doing the pilot is in effect acknowledging the alarm. Edit: More info' can be found by searching: Clotha Crash - Helicopter - Ran Out Of Fuel Edited November 26, 2017 by wymberley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-dot Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 It never ran out of fuel on the night. Maybe it did now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted November 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 Actually, in effect it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted November 26, 2017 Report Share Posted November 26, 2017 The higher echelons of Police Scotland seem to be the ones running out of fuel at present. Are there any left that haven't been sacked/suspended pending disciplinary action/awaiting criminal charges? As to the "official enquiry" re the Clutha crash, I hope they're not planning on another foregone conclusion, or even worse a cover up, as some of the recent outcomes in this neck of the woods would not pass muster in other parts of the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted April 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 The inquiry has finally started. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/clutha-helicopter-crash-inquiry-live-14251548 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustaff Posted April 8, 2019 Report Share Posted April 8, 2019 helicopter crash no fire ball says it ran out of fuel with massive consequenceces but i am not an air accident investigator but air crashes usualy have fires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 The only aircraft crash I attended had a small cockpit fire and it was about 3/4 full of fuel, not always a flaming fireball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrycatcat1 Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 It just said on sky news the pilot had 7 low fuel warnings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeydredd Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 It still had plenty fuel, unfortunately the pilot had not enabled a system that allows fuel to transfer between tanks. Two tanks were empty (apart from 0.4l in one) and the third tank had 76l of fuel in it - but the transfer pumps were switched off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted April 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 11 hours ago, Mickeydredd said: It still had plenty fuel, unfortunately the pilot had not enabled a system that allows fuel to transfer between tanks. Two tanks were empty (apart from 0.4l in one) and the third tank had 76l of fuel in it - but the transfer pumps were switched off. Strictly speaking, re the first point and the fuel, there wasn't plenty and for the second point, there's something that doesn't make sense. The aircraft should have landed before the 76kg point was reached - again, strictly speaking. The flight time was such that the 76kg of remaining fuel was to be expected. Although one has slightly more capacity than the other - the reason for which worked on this occasion - the two supply tanks hold some 93kgs in total. The aircradft got airborne with 400 kg so some 324 were used which at c200 per hour of flight time makes sense. So how come, if the transfer pumps were switched 'OFF', this happened? Assuming the supply tanks were full, in this configuration, at the 200/hour, only some 30 minutes of flight time would have been possible. Consequently, barring any chance of gravity feed, the main tank transfer pumps must have been switched on at some point - probably on start up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeydredd Posted April 11, 2019 Report Share Posted April 11, 2019 (edited) okay, remove the word "plenty". It still had fuel in a tank. The report stated that the transfer pumps were switched off so the remaining fuel could not be used by the engine. Presumably if it could access the fuel then the copter could potentially have landed, even on the M8 if it could not reach the airport - rather than flame out and crash. Edited April 11, 2019 by Mickeydredd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted April 11, 2019 Report Share Posted April 11, 2019 On 10/04/2019 at 10:31, wymberley said: Strictly speaking, re the first point and the fuel, there wasn't plenty and for the second point, there's something that doesn't make sense. The aircraft should have landed before the 76kg point was reached - again, strictly speaking. The flight time was such that the 76kg of remaining fuel was to be expected. Although one has slightly more capacity than the other - the reason for which worked on this occasion - the two supply tanks hold some 93kgs in total. The aircradft got airborne with 400 kg so some 324 were used which at c200 per hour of flight time makes sense. So how come, if the transfer pumps were switched 'OFF', this happened? Assuming the supply tanks were full, in this configuration, at the 200/hour, only some 30 minutes of flight time would have been possible. Consequently, barring any chance of gravity feed, the main tank transfer pumps must have been switched on at some point - probably on start up. If the Pilot made a poor choice of switch and closed off the transfer valves after the 324 Kg had been used. Not sure how else it stopped working as required! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted April 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2019 1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said: If the Pilot made a poor choice of switch and closed off the transfer valves after the 324 Kg had been used. Not sure how else it stopped working as required! Need to be careful here. All four switches for the pumps were unguarded and restrained by light spring loading. All four could have tripped during impact. However, in view of the flight time, fuel from the main tank must have been available with the switches "ON", certainly, at least, until such time as the 76kg level was reached. I don't think anyone will ever know why they were turned off. Autorotation has been mentioned - possibly on the other thread - but in the dark the pilot was up against it as soon as the second engine flamed out - there was an option to provide external lighting and accurate height information but this emergency facility was not selected (time?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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