Irish Drifter wrote:
Berk2302 wrote:
I looked it up... it was a Bell 206B Jet Ranger they were flying. Normal gross weight is 3,200lbs with an empty weight of 1,730lbs. That leaves 1,487lbs for passengers, fuel and dope. The 206B holds 91 gallons of fuel. With 2 guys at 180 each and 800lbs in powder that leaves 327lbs for fuel divided by 6.84lbs per gallon = 47.8 gallons. SJO is 3,800 above mean sea level. They were probably OK on weight, but one report I just read said there may have been a 3rd passenger.
This helicopter is generally configured for a total of 5 people including the pilot.
Berk......
Seems you have made a lot of assumptions. If you have some factual info to back them up please post. Lets look at them.
Empty weight 1,730 lbs. Is that wet or dry weight? Is that factory weight as opposed to weight after operator installed equipment?
2 guys at 180 lbs each. Why not 150 or 200 each? 200 is standard weight for for an adult male in estimating in the airline industry. However that is a minor point and really not relevant.
47.8 gallons of fuel. A real wild card. You have no idea of the fuel load as you simply used the weight still available without overloading the aircraft to arrive at that figure.
SJO is 3800' msl. They did not crash in San Jose but rather in the area of Cerro de La Muerte which is closer to 7000' msl
From a licensed pilot... here's how it works. The statement was made the aircraft might have been overloaded or something like that. I pulled up the specs for the Ranger 206. Using standard configuration from Bell Helicopter's website I plugged in the standard data. Passenger weight and fuel weight are ALWAYS variables... e.g. If I load up 4 fat guys in a Cessna 172 or a 206 Ranger I probably cannot take on a load of full fuel. I can still fly though (not considering density altitude to keep this simple). In a standard configuration the 206 can handle 1,487lbs of fuel, cargo and passengers. The 206 will hold 5 individuals. Full fuel @ 91 gallons weights 622lbs. That leaves 865lbs for passengers and cargo. Let's assume NO cargo so the average weight for all passengers is 173lbs in a 206 with full tanks.
The point being the 206 with 3 average weight passengers (only 2 dead bodies though), 800lbs of powder and 24 gallons (a little over 1 hour flying time @ gross weight) can fly even at 7,800msl... under the right atmospheric conditions. The certificated altitude at gross weight under standard atmospheric conditions is 13,500msl.
A.M. Costarica writes the following which may indicate engine failure... "It appeared that the helicopter just dropped from the sky and landed on its left side. There were no broken trees as would be the case if the helicopter was flying low and ran into a ridge line or the tops of trees."
Berk....
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