Robinson helicopter crashes - pilot error or faulty design?
The men are among 19 people killed in mast-bumping crashes in Robinson helicopters in New Zealand. Mast-bumping, sometimes called rotor blade divergence, occurs when an inner part of the main rotor mechanism hits the main rotor drive shaft. Pilots have less than a second to react before the blades slice through the cabin, causing the chopper to break up in flight. It can happen in any helicopter, usually in turbulent or low-gravity conditions, but in Robinsons it is almost always fatal. Supplied The wreckage of the helicopter crash that killed Stephen Anthony Nicholson Combe, 42, of Wān...
Source: stuff.co.nz