SA Flyer — Edition 263 — September 2017

48 SA Flyer Magazine

heli Ops

Mikhael snapped to attention and
focused. “Ahead and low, you’re headed
straight for them.”
Jed cursed and hollered, “We’ve got to
turn around.”
Jed stamped on the left pedal and
simultaneously moved the cyclic left. As
they spun through the turn, Jed raised the
collective to control the rotor rpm which had
risen.
Jed looked out the window. The space
below him was jam-packed: huts, narrow
streets and cars. “Where to go? Where to
go? That looks like the quietest street. Let
me go there.”
As if suspended in time, the seconds
ticked by in slow-motion. Jed located the
ground crew with its flashing light. He
watched the throng of people scamper. He
spotted a telephone cable that ran parallel
to the side of the road. He noticed a car
parked in the street.
The ground rushed up to meet him, and
with only 90 ft to spare, Jed commenced
his flare. Here we go. Easy does it. Get the
nose up ... up ... up ... WH-A-A-T? She’s
coughing into life!
Jed focused; his jaw clenched. “Damn!
Forgot to roll off the throttle. I’ll take it. We’ll
do a quick stop.
Jed levelled the machine. “Huh? My
rotors are below the telephone lines! How
the hell did that happen?” Jed didn’t wait for
his brain figure it out; he landed the R44 in
the middle of the street.
Jed closed his eyes, took a deep and
slowly exhaled breath. He sat awhile and
listened to his heart pound in his ears.
He opened his eyes and looked over to
Mikhael. “Boet, was that enough excitement
for you? Are we done now?”
Post flight diagnosis:
Fuel, contaminated with water, was the
cause for the engine failure.
The day crew had gone out on a case
earlier in the day but were unable to refuel
after they had landed, as a thunderstorm
hit the airport. They decided to refuel the
aircraft once the storm had passed. Hours
later, the storms abated, but it continued to

rain. At that point, the pilot and the tracker

refuelled the aircraft.

The previous day, the electric motor on

the bowser had stopped working. A hand

‘wobble’ pump, put into the opening on the

bowser, was used to refill the aircraft.

The pilot earthed the aircraft and sat in

the cockpit to monitor the gauges so that

he could advise the tracker when to stop

refuelling. The hand pump had remained

in the back of the bakkie during the heavy

rain. A large quantity of water had collected

in the pipe. The tracker thought that the

liquid in the pipe was fuel. He was careful

not to spill any fuel and managed to get it all

into the helicopter tanks.

Five litres of water were recovered

when they drained the fuel tanks on site in

Atteridgeville. The pre-flight fuel sample did

not show delineation between water and

fuel – the entire content of the fuel test-tube

had been water.j

RIGHT - Usually it's easy to see water in the

fuel - but not when it's dusk, and you're in a

rush, and it's only water.

FIVE LITRES OF WATER WERE RECOVERED

WHEN THEY DRAINED THE FUEL TANKS

ON SITE IN ATTERIDGEVILLE.