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So ... what does everybody think about the main rotor recovery from the Hudson River crash?

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Squirrel

Squirrel

Paranormal Maven
So ... are others as amazed as I am that the ENTIRE TRANSMISSION was recovered ATTACHED to the main rotor, at the Hudson River tourist helicopter crash site??

How IN THE HELL was THAT MUCH FORCE put on the heavy duty transmission mounts from ordinary gentle, mid-air, apparently straight-and-level flight?? HOW!?

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And another little side thought, which may be simple optics, is, in the videos showing the main rotor cartwheeling through the sky, did anyone else see a transmission dangling from the rotor? I didn't.

It'll be interesting to see what the on-site experts have to say.

-- Squirrel
 
Whoa! ANOTHER little brain teaser: Didn't the original videos showing the main rotor cartwheeling through the sky show a FOUR-bladed rotor?

In the photo above, is that not a TWO-bladed rotor?

-- Squirrel
 
Gene Steinberg said:
I am just as interested in why plane mishaps and outright crashes have sharply increased after January 20, 2025.
Click to expand...
On the youtube video circuit, I'm hearing the old, but possibly accurate response that current events have prompted increased interest in REPORTING crash incidents.

-- Squirrel
 
Squirrel's comments are just below the video link.

Further to the Hudson River helicopter crash, from a commentator using the title:

Forensic Engineering and Failure Analysis


- 33 min.

Video title: NYC helicopter crash main rotor recovered reveals impact with drive shaft let me explain PT 2

Squirrel's comment: This commentator doesn't give his name in the above video, however he has ID'd himself in other videos in which he analyzes other disasters like building and bridge collapses or marine incidents. He does appear to have an engineering background, and in his reports, he does show official documentation to back up his commentary. Worth considering, I'd say.

His commentary is kind of hard to follow, but he eventually makes the point that it appears the DRIVESHAFT for the TAIL ROTOR, which is a very maintenance sensitive part of this model helicopter, broke and protruded upwards causing strikes by the main rotor blades, causing the rotor blades to fracture.

He mentions that the tail rotor driveshaft is so in need of constant maintenance that it MUST be checked WELL WITHIN 100 hour intervals. Imagine an automobile which was that sensitive in order to be driven safely!

Like WOW -- I had no idea helicopters were so sensitive to regular checks! Count me OUT if offered a ride in the future!!

ALL THAT BEING CONSIDERED: I STILL can't figure out how a helicopter transmission, complete with a section of the airframe the transmission is bolted into, could be RIPPED FREE from the rest of the airframe! I mean so, the tail rotor driveshaft whacked the main rotor blades. That shouldn't cause the airfame to be literally ripped apart, should it?

And if that's not enough, how did a fractured tail rotor driveshaft ESCAPE from the enclosed fuselage tail section? Was the fuselage broken off first? Was that due to inordinately violent operation of the cyclic control stick causing the main rotor blades to first "whack off" the rear fuselage? Or something spookier?

These "mysterious" questions are why I posted this in a paranormal forum.

-- Squirrel
 
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Squirrel said:
Whoa! ANOTHER little brain teaser: Didn't the original videos showing the main rotor cartwheeling through the sky show a FOUR-bladed rotor?

In the photo above, is that not a TWO-bladed rotor?

-- Squirrel
Click to expand...
Update on April 16th (day after above note):

Looking through available videos today, a day after my original post, I can only find TWO bladed video footage, which comports with the other footage posted since yesterday. Very odd, because just before my original post, I saw CLEARLY footage showing a FOUR bladed rotor cartwheeling and falling. Oh well, it's 2025, what else can be said! (Mini-Mandela effect, maybe?)

-- Squirrel
 
Shucks ... forgot to save the youtube video link, but I found a video by an experienced helicopter pilot actually located in NYC, and who had been interested in purchasing the actual Bell helicopter that crashed.

He used one of his other Bell 206s to show the equipment surrounding the transmission and adjacent parts and structure in that model.

His belief, given his view of the video footage of the crash and wreckage was that a part in the transmission group called the "auto decoupler," which in normal flight is spinning as part of the engine-to-rotor drive train, may have SEIZED.

It's function is to allow the main rotor to keep spinning should drive train issues arise, thus offering the pilot a chance, at least, to autorotate to the ground. However, like any other mechanical part, it, too, could fail, including seizure.

A sudden seizure could explain why the entire transmission group and adjacent airframe area could have been wrenched out of the rest of the airframe.

The pilot's theory, if true, should come out with the NTSB reports.

-- Squirrel
 
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