Is travelling ina helicopter particularly dangerous

[Lardlizard]

How many more times dangerous than travelling in the roads I wonder ? Or is it like flying safter than road travel ?

Yes.

especially in the US, where large numbers of the deaths are drunk or dangerous drivers killing themselves,

It’s the opposite. Most drunk drivers are aged 18-22. The US has a law prohibiting alcohol consumption by under 21s which means they actually have fewer drunk drivers per capita than Europe does.

Prince William was a helicopter pilot I don't think that the Queen would have given permission if they were really dangerous.

I'd get in one, albeit nervously. Which is perhaps hypocritical as I think it's interesting when people say "oh I know someone who died in a helicopter crash, I'd never get in one" –I know someone who died in a car crash, but it's never occurred to me not to travel by car.

There are over 3500 people killed in car crashes daily, so we are all more likely to know someone killed in this manner

Even in the U.K. someone dies every 5 hours in a car crash

There are over 3500 people killed in car crashes daily, so we are all more likely to know someone killed in this manner

You know it's 3500 annually don't you? Not nearly 1.3 million people per year!

To be valid you really need to relate the deaths to miles travelled or some other measure, absolute figures are meaningless

@ivykaty44 helicopters can land and take off from spaces planes cant, and are much quicker for longer distances than road ambulances, hence the air ambulance.

Absolutely not.

A pilot on an airfield next to where I work recently had his nose broken by a seagull which crashed through the windshield of his helicopter and straight into his face. The mess! You've no chance with an immovable object....

Another chap I worked with worked out on the rigs and did helicopter commutes, he would tell me how sometimes it was so windy at sea they had to be connected by carabiner to a guide rope between the rig and 'copter in order to safely walk across the rig to board it so they wouldn't get blown off. Fuck that.

I have been in helicopters hundreds of times, sometimes in some very dangerous conditions and lived to tell the tale. I am also married to a helicopter pilot and know many, many more. I never give flying in one a second thought to be honest; I have had some scary moments and some near misses but I also have in cars as well.

Most helicopters are comparable to light aircraft. "General aviation" including light aircraft is about a hundred times as dangerous as commercial airliner flights, which puts it about equal to car travel. I don't think helicopters are significantly more dangerous than that.

Now if you want a dangerous way to travel, get a motorbike.

@Littleelffriend as PP said, he worked on ships not rigs :) crew changes were almost always done in port, or occasionally by boat if there was no berth available.

Ive always wondered if there was any csot/weight effective way to fit helicopters with some sort of chutes so that your only back up option isnt crashing into the ground at speed from a great height.

The go forward command is not also the go down command @Patroclus. Up & down are controlled by the collective pitch control - it works like a motorcycle throttle, it governs power to the engine & thus via the gearbox, the revolutions of the rotors.
Directional commands are controlled by the cyclic pitch lever. It alters the angle of the rotor cone from flat to slightly angled down in the required direction.
The blades are aerofoils so they generate lift when they are turning fast enough, moving the cyclic dips the cone such that the blades also pull the aircraft in the required direction.

Have a look at those US marine Osprey thingies. they really are deathtraps.

I have only been in a helicopter once, and I enjoyed it. DH didn’t, said he didn’t feel safe and wouldn’t consider going in one again.

I don’t know, but I wouldn’t get in one either.
I’m terrified of heights, though. Even if God almighty stood in front of guaranteed I’d be safe i still wouldn’t go near one.
On another note who let that bloody thing fly in that thick fog. They’re probably distraught and feel bad enough, but what were they thinking

You know it's 3500 annually don't you? Not nearly 1.3 million people per year!

Did you not realise that 1.3 people die every year in car crashes

1700 a year in the U.K.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate

WHO figures

Is quite shocking when they have it as every 25 seconds a person dies in a car crash, bad enough every 5 hours in the U.K. 😪

Yes, you push the contols forward and it tilts forward, but also nose down.

They don't have black boxes do they which helps to improve safety on planes so it's harder to improve on what went wrong.

Been in one once, didn't like it.

I have flown in one and it was fun but I wouldn't make a habit of it.

I'm not sure I'd fancy going to Scilly on one, having flown back from there at 600 feet when fog suddenly came in it was a bit hair raising. They cancelled the flights after ours. Scillonian and a paper bag next time for me!

You can also fly on a light plane to Scilly- the more common option as the helicopter is much more expensive. Still not cheap, mind.

Helicopter to Scilly was the trip I mentioned though- it was back in the early 00s when you could more easily go for a day trip on a Sikorsky S61. Great fun, but as I say, I'd not do it regularly by choice as it is more hairy than aeroplanes.

We hear them constantly here (north Aberdeenshire) , from about 6am onwards and have dozens of friends/acquaintances that have a connection to the rigs - I’m only remembering a handful of major incidents ie the one in 2009 for instance, another that was mentioned on news last night . Compared to RTAs that happen daily .

I suppose the difference is if a helicopter goes, particularly if you’re ditching it in water, even with HUET you’re not that likely to survive perhaps . Don’t know the actual stats.

We did it on the light plane. It's a great view as they don't close the cockpit door.