Attessa IV; the Helicopter falls over in storm

Why didn't the crew tie the chopper to the heli deck? Perhaps a flat clear deck without provisions to keep the heli in place? Looks very unprofessional...

What is certainly damaged is the heli! In the picture there are cables or something holding the heli, perhaps it was secured but it wasn't meant for such strong winds. You don't leave a few million dollars just sunbathing in that deck. Is that a Eurocopter 135?

This is a Eurocopter 135 landing on Atessa IV:
Helicopter landing on Super Yacht Attessa IV in Marina Del Rey, April 2012 - YouTube

Does not appear to be the same chopper. Probably still cost a couple bucks to repair not including the damage to the yacht.

Attessa's usual heli has a dark belly. Perhaps this was a rental. Hope Mr. W bought the insurance.

The Helicopter landing on Atessa IV in Marina del Rey is undoubtedly a single engine Eurocopter EC 130 B 4 as shown on the first picture. The EC 135 is a twin engine Helicopter as can be seen in the second picture. The only thing they have in common is the Fenestron tail rotor.

The remains of that stormy weather look like an EC 120 B, the smaller version of their standard helo. The damage on that Helo will most likely be a write off, if the rotor / engine assembly is affected. Rotor blades are expensive but can be replaced.

Thank you HTM09.

Certainly proves the importance of big helipads as the heli would have perhaps crashed into the sea on smaller helipads like on the refited "Ilona" or the recently so often seen bowpads.

I am glade that they had luck in this dangerous situation and nobody was injuried.

Another shot.

Question: Is it usual that a helo would remain onboard during severe weather? Wouldn't it be more prudent to fly to a secure facility ahead of the weather? just asking what SOP is.

The owners yachts with the name Atessa have grown with the years and the size of the helopad with it . But the Helo is still the same. Same type and callsign (N165WC).

The EC 120 B and the EC 130 B4 are simple and rugged design helicopters. But the 3 blade rotor system is a quite old design. Eurocopter is so much used to their governmental owners and large fleet operators, that private and small corporate owners with a single helicopter get ignored sometimes. Will say, service for those is not as good as it should and could be.

That is why I always would and will buy Bell. From personal experience, I can say, that Bell Textron Helicopters has the best service for small and medium Helicopters worldwide. If you call for help, no matter where your Helo sits on the ground (except maybe on the north or south pole ), the Bell technican will show up in shortest possible time and get that thing flying again. But not if it is ruined like in the first picture. This flying machine will leave the ship with external lift.

Sorry, did not see Fishes last picture. As the complete Helo is coconed with canvas, it might as well be their standard Helo, the EC 130. From that picture, the Helo might be worth repairing, if the rotorhead and engine mounting is fine.

Each Helicopter has a specific tiedown procedure written in its operating and maintenance handbooks. The most vulnerable part of a Helo are the rotorblades. Some manufacturers ask for the complete removal of all blades during long term or bad weather storage on ships. Foldable rotor blades have to be supported by special struts to withstand harsch weather.

Below an example of the tiedown procedure for the MD 902 Explorer. With this tiedown arrangement, you could tie this helo upside down to the roof of a hangar and the MD 902 would stay in place if the ship capsizes .

The problem I can see, wheather it is a classed / cerfitied (LY2/LY3) Helo Deck or only the typical Touch and Go landing pad or even just an inofficial landing pad ???. The question is, does the insurance pay for the helo, if he is not supposed to be there in the first place ??? As I read the LY2, a certified helicopter landing pad on a yacht should have at least the diameter of the main rotor (On Atessa IV it is definately smaller). Reason is that during the touchdown, the complete rotor circle should be in equal ground effect (safety). On commercial yachts, this is as far as I know, mandatory.

I am not a friend of Helicopters being permanently stationed on a yacht. Landing on the forecastle is no fun for the pilot at all (lack of references). And having this Kerosin stinking and oil dripping ugly piece of kit parking on the sun deck, ruins the pleasure of yachting. So its either below deck storage or leaving of the Helo after delivery of the pax / cargo with me.

I think K1W1 is the specialist on this forum for this SOP / Certification type question. Lets wait for his comments.

I was in Monaco's port yesterday morning 29/7 around 7:30 AM when the violent squall hit the port and the yachts at anchor just outside it.

There were some big black clouds suddenly covering the sky and in no time, we had very severe rain pouring and winds blowing increasing from 2 kts to well over 30/40kts. I have no idea on how strong they were outside the port given it came from N - NW and the buildings surrounding the port must have probably acted like a shield to the yachts moored inside the port. "Attessa IV" was anchored just outside the port along with 5 or 6 other superyachts. Visibility was close to ZERO when the rain came. Add the strong wind and I guess we were all taken by surprise...

Weather forecast advised for possible thunderstorms during the night and up to early morning, but no one was expecting anything that violent. At 11AM summertime with clear blu sky and 30°C temp were back...

A similar situation happened around the 20th of August last year in Monaco at night. Clear sky first and within 5 minutes thunderstorm, rain and wind at 40+ kts all at once. And it all lasted around 15-20 minutes. Just like yesterday morning....

Yep, that is the reputaton of MD helos in Europe. Rare as diamonds and so are their tech reps and spare parts.

Thats why I prefere Bell Textron. But even those are helicopters. Our professor in university (mechanical engineering) had a favorite explanation for helicopters: "A conglomerate of spare parts which fight each other". And the other was: "Never trust an aircraft, where the wings are faster than the fuselage". He must have known, he was the "pope" of the helo technology at his time in Europe and had written most of our books we used in our studies (Prof. Dr. Ing. Kurt Knobling, University of the Armed Forces Germany, Munich).

This is one of the reasons why I still have an ambivalent relation to helicopters. I like to fly them but I still dont like them very much.

One of my ancestors, Juan de la Cierva, participated in the creation of helicopters. Looks like they need to develop them further.

Juan de la Cierva - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hi Felipe,

congratulations on your famous ancestor. Auto Gyros are getting very popular in Europe. But they should not be mistaken with helicopters. They can not hover and do vertical take offs and landings. They are perfect STOL aircraft and make a lot of fun to fly, if you obey their special limits.

Thats the way they look like today. They are classed as Microlights or LSA aircraft. Cruising speed is about 100 Kts, range some 4 to 5 hours and they can take off and land on a tennis court. But they are perfect for use on a smaller expedition yacht, because they can be equipped with floats and with the rotor taken off, do not occupy more space than a dinghy.

Thank you so much, fascinating! I didn't even know they were being sold nowadays.