Helicopter drone strike in Chile.

[Clipper707]

The helicopter seems to have come off worse than the drone, which appears largely intact apart from the arms.

Except the helo was/is still able to fly.

 

[Dogpilot]

Just to clear up one misconception, the pilot flies helicopters from the right seat, not the left. Right is an observer position. There are dual controls (if so equipped, it is optional), but we fly from the right, opposite of fixed wing. Windshields they provide minimal impact protection. In most cases I have hit birds with the blades rather than the windscreen. I do get splattered with a nice patina of bird jam. Of course it has a couple of factors going on there, yes the drone should have gotten out of the way, but then again, how low was the helicopter. We are supposed to maintain 1,200' over populated areas except in special circumstances, where we can operate at 500'. Oft broken rules by helicopters.

All I know is I would rather not have a my Mavic 2 pro thrown into my face at any speed. My helmet would do little to mitigate the impact.

 

[RPATX33]

Looks like a Mavic 2 Pro (I can see the square Hasselblad camera and gimbal laying to the left of the drone.

Definitely a Mavic Air 2. There’s no side sensors behind the battery, just a rear sensor. Also, the Mavic 2 Pro is darker grey and has a more squared off front.

 

[TS_Thomas02]

Seems rather odd that a helicopter would not have some sort of impact resistant glass.

The other posts seem correct, definitely not safety glass. Those compound curves pretty much are going to be accomplished with a molded acrylic-like plexiglass. Pretty solid for most stuff, but hitting a plastic drone with a pretty solid hunk of battery in it at 80kts or so is a recipe for what you see in the picture. Fighter jets and other fast-movers have very thick (and expensive) glass which is probably pretty heavy.

 

[SkySteve83]

This is always gong to be a danger around beaches. Down here in South Florida planes and helicopters are constantly flying over the shoreline at any altitude they like. 50' or less is not uncommon. I've done it myself in the past but these days I would be very scared of small drones in the same airspace bering flown by amateurs without a clue. Last year we were doing some aerial work at a few beachfront hotels and we had two spotters watching out for aircraft as I knew too well how dangerous it was. Small planes easily take bird strikes right through their windscreens and if this had been a small Cessna, probably going much faster than this Jetranger - it could have been much worse. I hope the new rules help prevent these incidents.

 

[maven4336]

Some mention it was a pro ‘looks like Mavic air2 camera is black not silver like the pro, no mater not good to see this my hobby is in jeopardy of other peoples, some need to stick to Rc style,keeping your low skills on the ground.

 

[jimlips]

Something I have never seen anyone mention in the accidents, is how the heck can a drone possibly hit anything (other than the ground), when it gets hit by the helicopter's downward rotorwash? Here is an article saying that the downward air speed under the rotors of a Hughes 500 aircraft is around 46MPH: Calculating Rotor Downwash Velocity - Rotor & Wing International Seems to me that a drone would surely be blown away before it could possibly hit the helicopter. I challenge someone to have a friend with a helicopter hover around 100' off the ground, then fly a Mavic underneath the helicopter, and see how close you could get. I'm betting it would make the drone go out of control before it got anywhere near the helicopter.

 

[Rich QR]

Something I have never seen anyone mention in the accidents, is how the heck can a drone possibly hit anything (other than the ground), when it gets hit by the helicopter's downward rotorwash? Here is an article saying that the downward air speed under the rotors of a Hughes 500 aircraft is around 46MPH: Calculating Rotor Downwash Velocity - Rotor & Wing International Seems to me that a drone would surely be blown away before it could possibly hit the helicopter. I challenge someone to have a friend with a helicopter hover around 100' off the ground, then fly a Mavic underneath the helicopter, and see how close you could get. I'm betting it would make the drone go out of control before it got anywhere near the helicopter.

Helicopters rarely hover. If it was flying forward at 100mph, the drone wouldn't be exposed to the downwash for long enough to reach the full downward speed of the wash. The drone may well have started out above the impact point and been pushed down somewhat, but still hit the windscreen.

If drones couldn't impact helicopter windscreens, then bugs couldn't, either. But they do.

Do the windshields on aeroplanes and helicopters get covered in bugs?

Answer (1 of 5): In South Carolina, in the summertime, flying low-level helicopter training missions, bugs were the bane of our existence. And, as bad as they'd get for us drivers, they often were a lot worse for our flight engineer scanners. Hanging out the left and right sides looking for landm...

www.quora.com

 

[Glen Davies]

I thought the windscreen on those would be stronger.

From Twitter: "Yesterday a Chilean military helicopter hit a drone whilst operating. The pilot was injured and hospitalised but later released."

View attachment 122480View attachment 122481View attachment 122485

 

[Glen Davies]

Not buying that, its BS

 

[Jakkelas]

Is there any evidence of an investigation being launched by the Chilean CAA? Seems nothing further since the initial report, seems a little fishy as surely this incident would require a full investigation?

 

[anotherlab]

Is there any evidence of an investigation being launched by the Chilean CAA? Seems nothing further since the initial report, seems a little fishy as surely this incident would require a full investigation?

Actually, there is an investigation in process by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics, DGAC. They have not released any information until the final report is ready. But it is listed as an active investigation on their site (Informes 2021 – DGAC | Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil). It's listed by event date and aircraft type.

 

[SkySteve83]

Considering it DID go through the windscreen of the helicopter, image what it could do to a pilot in a fixed wing light plane going even faster. A bird went right into the cockpit of a 172 at my flight school once, filling the cockpit with blood and guts in addition to the pilot trying to fly the plane with a huge hold in the windscreen and the accompanying breeze! Birds are soft organic material compared with metal and plastic with sharp edges. I imagine there needs to be extensive impact tests done to various windscreens and engine intakes just like they've been doing with birds.

 

[SkySteve83]

Something I have never seen anyone mention in the accidents, is how the heck can a drone possibly hit anything (other than the ground), when it gets hit by the helicopter's downward rotorwash? Here is an article saying that the downward air speed under the rotors of a Hughes 500 aircraft is around 46MPH: Calculating Rotor Downwash Velocity - Rotor & Wing International Seems to me that a drone would surely be blown away before it could possibly hit the helicopter. I challenge someone to have a friend with a helicopter hover around 100' off the ground, then fly a Mavic underneath the helicopter, and see how close you could get. I'm betting it would make the drone go out of control before it got anywhere near the helicopter.

I don't think a hovering helicopter would ever be an issue as the drone pilot would be well aware of it's presence. It's the forward speed of the aircraft that makes it so dangerous. Even with the doors off a jet ranger when doing a photo shoot we would need to be low along the beach traveling at 80-100 knots. Doors on in cruise we would be traveling 100-120 knots. Down at 10-50' over the water was not uncommon. MD500's and AStars are even faster. God forbid a rotor failure from a drone strike somewhere and I think the days of flying drones in pubic airspace would be over. Please be careful out there!

 

[BigAl07]

Not buying that, its BS

Please provide some back story as to why you think it's BS.

 

[BigAl07]

Something I have never seen anyone mention in the accidents, is how the heck can a drone possibly hit anything (other than the ground), when it gets hit by the helicopter's downward rotorwash? Here is an article saying that the downward air speed under the rotors of a Hughes 500 aircraft is around 46MPH: Calculating Rotor Downwash Velocity - Rotor & Wing International Seems to me that a drone would surely be blown away before it could possibly hit the helicopter. I challenge someone to have a friend with a helicopter hover around 100' off the ground, then fly a Mavic underneath the helicopter, and see how close you could get. I'm betting it would make the drone go out of control before it got anywhere near the helicopter.

Lots of variables at play but a UAS flying into the downwash of a forward flying helo would only experience a small amount of displacement before striking the windshield. Hovering would have some different outcome but then again it depends on speed of the UAS as well.

@sar104 ran the calculations a good while back for a Phantom (over on PhantomPilots) flying into the downwash of a typical medium sized helicopter at cruise speed, IIRC he came up with an estimate of a total of less than 2' displacement before impact with the windshield.

 

[sar104]

Lots of variables at play but a UAS flying into the downwash of a forward flying helo would only experience a small amount of displacement before striking the windshield. Hovering would have some different outcome but then again it depends on speed of the UAS as well.

@sar104 ran the calculations a good while back for a Phantom (over on PhantomPilots) flying into the downwash of a typical medium sized helicopter at cruise speed, IIRC he came up with an estimate of a total of less than 2' displacement before impact with the windshield.

near miss with military helicopter

Most people can't judge the altitude of an aircraft. Military aircraft, including choppers, are very large, so people tend to think they are closer and lower than they actually are. The chance of a mid-air collision between a drone and a manned aircraft is extremely low. So low in fact that it...

phantompilots.com

Also rather obviously - birds hit, and sometimes penetrate, helicopter windshields, which demonstrates unambiguously that the argument that it cannot happen due to prop wash is incorrect.

 

[flydrones13]

Here is more info on the Helicopter Crash in Chile --> FLY DRONES 13 - AERIAL ARTICLES

 

[AMann]

“Just to clear up one misconception, the pilot flies helicopters from the right seat, not the left.”

So Pete Gillies was flying us from the wrong seat?!?

I guess it was from his habit of being an instructor, they always tend to do that.

 

[radman]

Several years ago I was traveling through the Yakima Firing Center in Washington State. At that time the U S Army was conducting military training exercises. The road I was on was built on the side of a mountain, and the terrain was steep enough that you could not see much beside the road. I saw some motion out of the corner of my eye, and a helicopter popped up beside the road about 100 feet away. The pilot was clearly visible, pointing his rocket launchers at me for a few seconds before dropping out of sight. It was an awesome experience. Yes, I know you can’t operate a drone in restricted air space, but the point is that I neither heard or saw the helicopter until it was very close.