RTAF helicopter makes emergency landing in Udon

By The Nation

A Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) helicopter yesterday made an emergency landing on a field in Udon Thani after the pilot noticed something wrong with its tachometer.

The aircraft had six people on board. All of them were undergoing three days of training for search-and-rescue missions.

"They are all safe," RTAF spokesman Air Vice Marshal Monthon Satchukorn said.

He said the pilot decided to make the landing when the hand of the tachometer dropped.

"In line with aviation safety standards, the landing had to be made to check and fix the problem," Monthon said. "A thorough check showed there was nothing wrong with the engines. Only the tachometer went out of order."

The helicopter in question has been in service for 40 years and has received regular maintenance.

"RTAF has always provided proper care to its aircraft," Monthon said.

Public concerns about helicopter safety have risen lately in the wake of three military helicopter crashes this month. The tragedies killed 16 soldiers and one TV cameraman.

Sergeant Pattanaporn Tonjan was the only survivor of the three crashes.

HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and his royal consort HRH Princess Srirasmi yesterday sent a vase of flowers to Pattanaporn, who is receiving treatment at Phramongkutklao Hospital in Bangkok.

The injured soldier was delighted. Before the gesture, his mother had been quite concerned that her son was hardly talking. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva visited Pattanaporn later in the day, handing him a flower basket and some financial assistance.

Pattanaporn said he planned to be ordained as a monk after he had fully recovered.

Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday denied suggestions that he took advantage of the situation to push a Royal Thai Army (RTA) plan to buy 30 new helicopters.

All the helicopters that crashed belonged to the RTA.

"The plan was prepared a long time ago," Prayuth said.

Abhisit said that as far as he remembered, the plan was proposed to the Cabinet in 2007. "But it wasn't during my administration," he said.

Prime minister-designate Yingluck Shinawatra said her government would of course support plans that would benefit the country's national security.

"But budget allocation must take into account other needs too. We also have to budget for people's well-being," she said.

-- The Nation 2011-07-28

The helicopter in question has been in service for 40 years and has received regular maintenance.

"RTAF has always provided proper care to its aircraft," Monthon said.

Yes, of course..... all the pilots must have eaten at the same food stall recently then, engines fine, but blurred vision is a bitch isn't it.

Nice flying. Bet he needed a diaper change though - unlike low airspeed in a fixed wing, low rotor RPM is not recoverable.

unlike low airspeed in a fixed wing, low rotor RPM is not recoverable.

Would autorotation be an option in worst case?

Edited July 28, 201114 yr by hkt83100

Those pesky ghosts are EVERYWHERE and getting in to EVERYTHING

Sounds like the tachometer just failed....kinda like driving along and the tachometer on your car suddenly goes to zero but your engine is still purring along. Of course with a car you can just continue on down the road or pull over later to check things out....but when a tachometer on an aircraft suddenly indicates zero it's best to set the aircraft down as soon as possible as you can't just pull off the road like in a car....but you could fall out of the sky into a jungle if the tachometer is truly indicating an engine problem.

There are at least 2; the article didn't say which but if it was the rotor RPM that failed the reaction would be more like a nuclear plant worker watching his dosimeter peg.

Nice flying. Bet he needed a diaper change though - unlike low airspeed in a fixed wing, low rotor RPM is not recoverable.

Not impossible, but drastic and without a tacho it's hard to know how to control the recovery.

There are at least 2; the article didn't say which but if it was the rotor RPM that failed the reaction would be more like a nuclear plant worker watching his dosimeter peg.

From the photo it appears to have been a Single-engined Huey - one tacho with 2 needles

I worked for UN in East Timor during and after the war there and every time we would fly a helicopter we had to sign that we were flying based on free will because the state of the white painted and UN labeled heli's was terrible. So not only Thailand has problems with maintenance.................................................

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<br />unlike low airspeed in a fixed wing, low rotor RPM is not recoverable.<br />

Would autorotation be an option in worst case?<br />

Yes that's the only option if the engine stops. But it requires very fast reaction by the pilot to stop the rotor RPM from decaying and if allowed to drop below 85% or so it cannot be recovered by any means. Or so I was told by my instructor anyway...

<br />

<br />unlike low airspeed in a fixed wing, low rotor RPM is not recoverable.<br />

Would autorotation be an option in worst case?<br />

Yes that's the only option if the engine stops. But it requires very fast reaction by the pilot to stop the rotor RPM from decaying and if allowed to drop below 85% or so it cannot be recovered by any means. Or so I was told by my instructor anyway...

You can be told or read it in books, but when you hear the engine go pop and the rrpm decay so fast, pure adreniline will get it back from around 65-70% in a twin-bladed machine. With 4 or 5 blade systems it is possible to get it back from under 50% enough to cushion the landing and keep it upright. Dunno about those french things with 3 blades though, I only flew them for a short time and never had an "incident"

I worked for UN in East Timor during and after the war there and every time we would fly a helicopter we had to sign that we were flying based on free will because the state of the white painted and UN labeled heli's was terrible. So not only Thailand has problems with maintenance.................................................

You had to sign something? life insurance or similar? I had the joy of recovering an ex-UN 206 in Dehli about 1982, They assured me that it was ok, inspite of numerous obvious snags, so I asked the 2 engineers and the manager to accompany me on the test flight. It was delayed while they did a bit more work

Prime minister-designate Yingluck Shinawatra said her government would of course support plans that would benefit the country's national security.

"But budget allocation must take into account other needs too. We also have to budget for people's well-being," she said.

Is this a veiled threat to reduce military budget in the coming years. Thoughts please

Just a normal day for them.

Prime minister-designate Yingluck Shinawatra said her government would of course support plans that would benefit the country's national security.

"But budget allocation must take into account other needs too. We also have to budget for people's well-being," she said.

Is this a veiled threat to reduce military budget in the coming years. Thoughts please

Well there is around a trillion Baht in campaign promises to fund. every body in Thailand is getting a pay raise. High speed trains to build. Pay double for rice, credit cards. big corporate tax cut. ECT ECT ECT I would have to assume there are going to be cuts in many places. Well there better be because there are some large bills to pay coming soon.

Edited July 29, 201114 yr by dcutman

<br />Prime minister-designate Yingluck Shinawatra said her government would of course support plans that would benefit the country's national security.<br /><br />"But budget allocation must take into account other needs too. We also have to budget for people's well-being," she said.<br /><br />Is this a veiled threat to reduce military budget in the coming years. Thoughts please<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Well thank you for your introduction of irrelevance to a discussion between obvious experts about helicopters.

What has the performance of a 40-year old aircraft to do with the forthcoming administration's budget plans?

Oh I forgot - it has to be the fault of a Shinawatra.

Prime minister-designate Yingluck Shinawatra said her government would of course support plans that would benefit the country's national security.

"But budget allocation must take into account other needs too. We also have to budget for people's well-being," she said.

Is this a veiled threat to reduce military budget in the coming years. Thoughts please

No, it's a sop being thrown to the Navy Chiefs who are considering a submarine base at Bali Hai pier in Pattaya.

Or the Air Force who are whining that their new Saabs don't have a heated rear window.

If Thailand wasn't run by corrupt officials, public or army, they would surely have had enough money to constantly upgrade and not wait 30 years. Give them enough to buy 30, They will turn up with 10. And if they manage to get 30 it would cost enough for 90.

Don't be too hard on Thailand. Try to look at the big picture. Have you seen what happens in African countries where corruption is totally accepted as part of "normal" business?

We are not exactly squeaky-clean in the west either, and who is going to hold the USA up as a "good example" these days with their insane brinkmanship with a credit limit that will never be reduced?

Politics breeds corruption -- give me a benign dictatorship any day