"601XL Builder" wrDOTgiacona@suddenlinkDOTnet wrote in message
...
Steve R wrote:

Going slightly off topic, and I'm not meaning to put anyone down here,
but why is it that just about every emergency autorotation I hear about
results in significant damage to the helicopter? Most folks walk away
from them, which is good, but some don't. This seems to be fairly common
even among aircraft that have the reputation of being relatively
forgiving in this mode. Are autorotations "that" critical or are the
successful ones simply not considered to be worthy of news so I'm not
hearing/reading about them?

I think it more because you just don't here about the ones that DON'T
result in significant damage.

I truly hope so. You see news reports of fixed wingers putting it down on
an Interstate or something from time to time with no damage or injuries.
Granted that's a little more noticeable than a helo successfully putting it
down in a field somewhere but you'd think that one or two of them would show
up on the local or national news "sometimes!" The best I remember seeing
was a Houston Police helicopter, a variant of the MD500, that did an
emergency auto into a local high school football field. The field was
vacant at the time. The aircraft remained on it's skids, which is what I
found unique about this one, but was missing the tail boom just aft of the
fuselage and had significant damage to the rotor system as a result of the
blade strike. All souls on board walked away with no injuries.

Fly Safe,
Steve R.