Helicopters DON'T just fall from the sky - What is "Mast Bumping"?
(youtu.be)https://youtu.be/fpsraaMDK84?si=Aazl43YdQunmhlraCertified Airframe & Powerplant mechanic with 14 years/5 different platforms of Helos under my belt.
I saw this video on a social media platform. As soon as I saw the fuselage falling, I instantly saw no tailboom attached.
My first thought was inflight collision, but quickly realized there's no evidence of that. Second thought was structural failure of some sort. All of the Bell Helicopters I've worked on all been Semi-artuculate rotor heads. I've never once heard of a mast bumping incident resulting in an incident. Doesn't mean it's not possible though.
I want to present another possibility from a mechanic point of view. On a larger Bell helicopter, the tailboom had 4 mount bolts that had to get replaced for - Life Limited - exceedance. We would do this during a phase or reset after specific flight hour intervals.
If this particular model has a mounting bolt inspection or torque check an improperly installed mounting bolts would be catastrophic event in flight. I personally always thought the design was to simplistic and had no fail-safe design Incase of improper install or fatugue failure.
In aviation helicopters have what we call the "Jesus nut". If the torque fails in-flight your praying to Jesus before meeting him. The tailboom bolts are just as important as it connects and supports everything in the tail rotor system.
Pray for the innocent children. To many people take aviation safety for granted and don't understand how much effort goes into making airplanes and helicopters fly safe everyday in this country.
We call it attention to detail. One small detail can cause a major incident and loss of life in aviation. Pilots have to be perfect, mechanics and ground crew have to be perfect. Mistakes aren't allowed in our industry.
Perhaps someone made a mistake, or just structural fatigue. Only inspectors will determine the outcome. I know I sure would like to read the aircraft logbook and see who performed what maintenance. Then interview those mechs.
