Wires are invisible, unreal.

John90290 · May 12, 2006

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/invest...r200600523.aspx

go to factual tab at the bottom and it tells a scary and sad story.

excelsior!! · May 13, 2006

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/invest...r200600523.aspx

go to factual tab at the bottom and it tells a scary and sad story.

Wow,that is really sad and reading that would certainly make someone keep their eyes sharp and wide open,i'll have to remember this.

May 13, 2006

I have come close to hitting wires in planes, and helicopters. I have been both the pilot, and passenger in both instances too. All times we/i were lucky enuf to have spotted them at the last minute, i spotted one as a passenger once, in MY helicopter ! I yelled "WIRE" ! I was flying low in MY airplane once down the river, i knew the boaters had a steel cable tied across the river, & i knew the exact place too,,, i had pulled up many times to go over it. One day, gal i was flying with, yelled "WIRE" ! just missed the boaters cable,,,,~~~whew~~ !

Needless to say, there are only 2 reasons to be flying that low: 1) job absolutely requires it, (AND hopefully you have done some hi-altitude recon of the area prior) 2) stupidity

ALL of my instances fell into reason number 2, and i just dont do it anymore.

Same thing goes for "buzz jobs"-----reason number 2

Hawkdriver · May 13, 2006

If you are flying less then 200ft AGL or even for that matter anything below 500AGL and are not using a properly prepped map, you are asking for an accident.

A sectional just wont cut it when you are at those altitudes. You need a properly chummed map with detail at least the 1/100 scale.

May 13, 2006

Maps wont "cut it", like i said, i almost hit a wire that i knew was there! wuddah map have helped me?..... NOPE!--- but luck did

and luck is something that you can't count on ALL the time, ( i wish i made this stuff up)

Goldy · May 14, 2006

Maps wont "cut it", like i said, i almost hit a wire that i knew was there! wuddah map have helped me?..... NOPE!--- but luck did

and luck is something that you can't count on ALL the time, ( i wish i made this stuff up)

Here's what it looks like when flying only 30 feet off the deck into some rather small power lines....hope we all learn from the mistakes of others...otherwise, we are truly the fool.

Goldy

Flying Bull · June 10, 2006

Hi all,

dont´t look for the wires, look for the posts, that support them.

And for irregular pattern in the landscape - a line of trees missing in a wood - could be a powerline.

A gras spot on a freshly made field - could be the area around a telephone-post.

And, if you really want to go low - may be along a river - have a high/low recce first.

We have some nasty wires here, where we scare the young pilots with.

Doing some low flying over some sees (freshwaterreservoirs with dam), always jumping over the dam wall at the end, letting the a/c drop behind, bringing them to the last dam wall and when they want to dive, taking over control.

And when they have the big ? in the face, we show them the wires, which they couldn´t see, because the poles are hidden in the woods on either side.

Who experienced such a surprise is a lot more careful on doing low level flights in the future time.

Greetings

"Flying bull"

HeliMark · June 13, 2006

I do searches in the mountains all the time. Wires are always something to respect. I was an observer in a helicopter when we were going up a canyon we had been in a hundred times. I was looking down and my partner was looking ahead, when I saw high tensions (the real big ones) just below us. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at my partner to make sure he had identified them as we were about 20 feet above them. I saw the look of nope did not and told him wires just below, that is when he told me wires above. Well we flew right inbetween the main set and the lightening ones. Change of underware and a very big reminder of "just because you do it all the time" ain't always good.

On the towers, there is a set of three that cross a freeway near us. If you just look at the towers, you may want to fly down the freeway lower as the wires come off a hill on either side and go to ones next to the freeway. Well only two do, the other is streatched right across .

Last, I was the first helicopter at the crash site of the pictures that Goldy posted. By the way, the wires are back up and I have seen the training helicopters running down that wash. Guess some will not learn.

techpilot64 · June 14, 2006

Last, I was the first helicopter at the crash site of the pictures that Goldy posted. By the way, the wires are back up and I have seen the training helicopters running down that wash. Guess some will not learn.

From the small amount of background you can see in the pix, could that be the Gorman area along the 126 north of Six Flags/Van Nuys?

-Kali

HeliMark · June 14, 2006

From the small amount of background you can see in the pix, could that be the Gorman area along the 126 north of Six Flags/Van Nuys?

-Kali

It is the old Indian Dunes area, just on the north side of Six Flags Magic Mountain. Where Vic Morrow was killed taping the "Twilight Zone". The 126 frwy just west of the I-5 frwy. It use to be a popular area for filming as "Baa Baa Blacksheep", and "China Beach" were all filmed in that area. Gorman is about 15 miles north of it.

Goldy · June 14, 2006

HeliMark- I was flying in the wash that morning-In fact, I left the area just as 3-300's were inbound..I just hope that posting the pix reminds us all how easy it is to forget where we are at, and especially how important that one high altitude recon is..

Safe Flying

Goldy