LoggyDriver Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Just watched that video of the incident and it's worse than I imagined. When he took off I was in Little Monctons at our set up and watched him go round the site. I'm sorry to say it but this Pilot does need a severe kick up the backside for this. This sort of thing does no good whatsoever to our hobby. If he crashed that would have been the end of civil helicopters coming into shows to display them. When it was mentioned that he lost power I was thinking maybe just a little, but on the video the engine virtually cut out and all you could here was the blades. The height he was at and the distance he travelled was unbelievable. I'm not getting into the blame game, but the Pilot must share 90% of the blame for this, he is the one responsible for the machine. BUT, he must have been told where to land as the site is massive, so he knew where he was going when he landed. I can't see that he just turned up at the show and knew exactly where to land, either he did a pre show reccy or was told to land there on arrival. When I saw it in the static display I thought it must have been trailered into position. To take off in a very crowded area with lots of FOD around was insane. He should have been trailored out to the heli area where he could take off safely. Were there fire marshals on standby with fire fighting equipment? Near misses MUST be reported to the CAA by law. Who in authority has made the complaint or has it just been left up to the spectators? I'm sure those involved haven't heard the last of this!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iltisman Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 It is a shame that this happened, as adding a bit of aviation to the show is liked by the public perhaps a separate area could be used near where the pleasure flights operate, supervised by a properly qualified "air boss". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 I think the helicopter owner won two prizes, not quite sure what for. I think one may have been for the public's choice of best exhibit. Can't see any list of prize winners on W&P site though. What happened to the Bart Vanderveen Award? No mention of it this year as far as I'm aware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 What happened to the Bart Vanderveen Award? No mention of it this year as far as I'm aware. Clive, in the gallery there are a couple of pictures of Winston presenting it to John Marchant so I assume he was the (very) worthy winner this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 (edited) OK - I agree with Martin about caution. Lets be very careful, please, with this one and leave it to the authorities. It is my personal understanding that this incident has no connection of an official nature with Rolling Thunder who were hosts - planned or otherwise - of the helicopter, and not the authors of it's arrival or departure. We can all see that what happened was frightening to say the very least and the management of the Hop Farm, W & P, the police and the CAA and the helicopter's owner/operator are the people to address it. So there is little point, in my opinion, in trading comments on it or any other hypothetical situations which can only lead to unnecessary friction between members of this forum for no collective gain whatsoever. I wouldn't normally get involved in one of these debates, but it seems to me that pointing that finger of yours at the RT group, without being sure of the legalities of the situation is rather irresponsible. I also think that just sitting on a high horse to defend your unsubstantiated claims is a poor way of justifying them. I would suggest that we all keep our opinions to ourselves until the incident has been investigated by the relevant authorities. Edited July 27, 2010 by Snapper punctuation, clarification of some wording Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Clive, in the gallery there are a couple of pictures of Winston presenting it to John Marchant so I assume he was the (very) worthy winner this year. Oh that completely passed me by Adrian! Although I was in the arena, I had other things on my my mind with giving support to Ashley Prior who was presenting the new Humber award in memory of his father. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Nicely put mate!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted July 27, 2010 Author Share Posted July 27, 2010 Lets clear up a few things here. And seperate RT from all of this.I was witness to the whole events when he flew in,and the conversation that followed with RT and the officials. It was quite clear that it was a surprise to RT as much as the officials by the actions of the pilot. In questioning Roger from RT over the entrance by the pilot he was cleary unaware that the pilot was going to fly in. And in his words." Some members of the group thought it was being trailered in" It also seems that from the radio chatter at the time,that the list of officials that were unaware of the"fly in" went back further back than those on the ground. At the end of the day the blame lays with the pilot. He made the decision to take off in to a crowded area. No one forced him with a stick. He made one attempt that was unsuccessful. And it should have been left at that. But he didnt and attempted a second try which you see in the video. So please lets take Rolling Thunder away from this. They have always been a very responsible group and formed the back bone of the living history displays for many years at War and Peace. And long may that continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 I wouldn't normally get involved in one of these debates, but it seems to me that pointing that finger of yours at the RT group, without being sure of the legalities of the situation is rather irresponsible. I also think that just sitting on a high horse to defend your unsubstantiated claims is a poor way of justifying them. I would suggest that we all keep our opinions to ourselves until the incident has been investigated by the relevant authorities. I suggest you read the whole thread , you will the see that I did not say R T were to blame, I said they should take their share of the blame which is not the same thing. As to the legal situation you do not know me so have no idea what qualifications I may or may not have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Can we take a step back on this one, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightweight Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 I suggest you read the whole thread , you will the see that I did not say R T were to blame, I said they should take their share of the blame which is not the same thing.As to the legal situation you do not know me so have no idea what qualifications I may or may not have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodge Deep Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 I think we'll draw a line under this until we know more... Its a CAA or Police matter... Keep it civil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 OK just an update here folks http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/news/Cho...l/article.html As it is out in the open the thread is now open. And it goes to show that the press read HMVF :sweat: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 :shocked: oh dear ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Makes you think whos watching ! Big Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 oh ..ER... SUGAR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellstar Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Saw this shot posted on another forum. http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 (edited) Video of the arrival on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT_xyqM4JNY Unless I'm misinterpreting the commentary ("here he comes..."), the arrival was expected by at least the cameraman and/or those around him... although the opening posts suggest he went round to land in the display area after first landing somewhere else. Edited August 17, 2010 by Runflat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 the opening posts suggest he went round to land in the display area after first landing somewhere else. It initially came in with another helicopter and they landed on the helicopter landing ground in America Field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keito Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 5 hour interview with the CAA yesterday, gave them the footage I had and have collected on this incident. Will keep you posted on the outcome however this may take some time. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 The video has been pulled from youtube - shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 The video has been pulled from youtube - shame. Probably because there appears to be at least one red shirt W&P official in attendance during it's arrival, no one seems to be suprised by it's landing, thought no one was expecting it?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 From being there at the time,Then i can honestly say that they weren't expecting it.The video showing the W+P official standing there was probably due to the fact that he had already made a couple of low level circuits of that area of the site and were wondering what his intentions were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Probably because there appears to be at least one red shirt W&P official in attendance during it's arrival, no one seems to be suprised by it's landing, thought no one was expecting it?? Those were my thoughts - Not expecting it in an area cleared ready for the arrival of a helicopter.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marmite!! Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 From being there at the time,Then i can honestly say that they weren't expecting it.The video showing the W+P official standing there was probably due to the fact that he had already made a couple of low level circuits of that area of the site and were wondering what his intentions were. Surely someone must of told him where to land or put a marker out for him to land in exactly to right spot? suppose we will just have to wait for the CAA report to find out the full story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts