Originally Posted by
Scubatooth
Okay you need to check your facts a emergency landing is not a crash, and there have not been reports of multiple incidents. First if a pilot is below the safe altitude to do a auto-rotation he better make sure his skills are on lock or hes more likely to kill all souls on board and those below.
Plus if on a body of water below 200 feet the rotors are pushing enough air down that it could push a human on the water under the surface and hold them under.
Also for the most part CBP uses either Bell Hueys or EuroCopter EC 135 or 145, along with a few variants of Blackhawks. Getting a rock into the intake of the engine is very hard even for a skilled thrower. Plus the leading edge of those blades are hardened and beveled so as to protect the structure of the blades from separating in the event of a strike. Short of a blade clipping a solid object with enough force/density likelyhood of a blade failure is low.
A vibration in the rotors is a very very very vague comment and could be anything from a balance weight in the rotors or mast shifting to a blade being damaged or missing (although that would lead to a crash PDQ). Putting the aircraft on the deck is probably a good idea. I wont second guess the pilots decision but sounds like it was declared for news purposes.
I've been on a helicopter that took bird strikes to the windscreen and to the rotors and rotor mast. There was no vibration in the rotor assembly that was felt through the frame or in the pilots pedals. Helicopter did not crash but did put the aircraft on the deck and didn't declare an emergency. The engines, rotor mast, blades were fine, only had to replace 2 plexiglass domes on the left seat side, and the fresnel lens on the night sun. Took maintenance 2 weeks to clean the aircraft and they joke there still picking feathers out of that aircraft.
You need to check your facts. Last time I looked a helicopter on its side with no rotors and smashed sides is not an emergency landing it is a crash. The agency uses other and has used other aircraft then what you have listed. They just recently in the past year or last year retired the last loach that they had flying. Last time I looked I worked for the agency and have better access to the information than you do or does work experience only work in YOUR favor. In any case, you experience while worthwhile is not all that impressive to me. In my prior, life I spent 12 years in Fire/Ems. I have spent a fair amount of time around helicopters. I will date myself by saying I was even involved in making the state of NJ training film for Fire Department interaction with helicopters. Very old we are talking late 80's I was just a grunt then. This screen name didn't come from my present employment.