The Coroner found the crash was caused by failure (metal fatigue) of a bolt securing the tail rotor gear box resulting in sudden, violent rotation. He was unable to determine what then happened but noted the airmanship of the pilot and: 1. The low altitued & high buildings made diving / auto rotation impossible 2 The large Saturday crowds at Circular Quay blocked the only open space 3 Jim Reilly had successfully landed after a similiar tail rotor failure in the NT where he had space & altitude.
Pilot: James (Jim) Reilly. Originally a WWII RAF Lancaster capt. Shot down over the North Sea. A helicopter pioneer. First operational helicopter squadron. Flew all generations of RAF helicopters: Dragonfly, Sycamore, Whirlwind , Wessex & test pilot for the Belevedere. Awarded AFC for rescue work. Survived twin engine failure in Belevedere and a similiar tail rotor failure in the NT. Noted for his caution - did a full preflight check plus a short air test for balance due to the heavy camera.
They used more than one Bell 47 in Skippy. They often had "Rotor-Work" on the fuel tank. They usually used VH-AHI in the series but at least once used VH-AHF. The helicopter that crashed in this video was VH-AHF and was owned by RotorWork Pty Ltd.
Here is a link to a photo of VH-AHF parked at Bansktown...
The reason i was interested was I was going for my private pilot’s license on fixed wing aircraft. We were always taught to walk the aircraft ever time before taking off. I checked the tail rotor on that aircraft. It had about a half rotation play. I assuming the people flying them would pick this up if indeed it was abnormal. I have always been haunted by the fact if I had of said something at the time the crash may not have happened
@manyducks4000 I worked on Bell 47's many years ago & backlash of half a revolution or thereabouts would ground the aircraft as that much freedom in the tail rotor assembly would indicate a severe problem which would have revealed itself at take-off due to the power required at that stage . As a general rule they only move a little bit fore-aft if manipulated before the main rotor starts to move as well. Apparently the drive spline sheared resulting in disassembly of tail rotor mid flight
the helicopter in this footage,a BELL 47 (G3B1 ?) belonged to the ROTORWORK company (the same company that provided a machine for the SKIPPY TV series).pretty certain that from photo archives it's rego was VH-ATH & was flown by James Riley. Also on board were director Patricia Ludford & cameraman Frank Parnell ..God rest their souls..despite autorotation attempts the aircraft collided with GOLDFIELDS HOUSE & ended up in the PAUL BUILDING @ 35 Pitt st. I plan to visit the site to pay respects
My Father was working at the ABC in TV News as a cameraman at the time. The cause of the accident was tail rotor failure. After the crash the camera was found and recovered with the film mag partially sprung opened and as you can see the film was mostly usable with some light and fire damage. I believe the cameraman was given a posthumous award for the vision., either he locked the camera on run or held the film run button on during the spiral and crash. These people were pioneers, RIP
The footage shot from the ground was from a Commonwealth Film Unit production crew shooting in the city. The original ground shot footage is in 16mm colour.
@FILMAUSTRALIA I was a 10 year old boy at the time, being Filmed in a Commonwealth Film Unit documentary "Ships at Work". During filming, I noticed directly above us the helicoter spinning. The cameraman turned his camera upwards to capture the last terrifying moments of this tragedy. I understand this cameraman won many local & international awards for this footage. To this day I have never been in a heliopter.
Although many years have passed, I send my sincere condolences to the families.
@MrAglad What an interesting piece of information and thank you for letting me know. As far as I'm aware there isn't any knowledge of this fact within the existing structure of what is now Screen Australia. The cameraman (on the ground) was Mike Franklin. Also I checked the status of Ships at Work and found that it has never been transfered from film so I am now in the process of telecining it and I will digitise it and will put it up for you to see on the FILMAUSTRALIA channel soon.
Thank you for your reply and looking in to Ships at Work. It has been so many years since this documentary was made I would be very interested to revisit and view it. It was most definitely the cameraman on this project that captured the alarming footage.We we filming on the tugboat "Himma", just off Benelong point at the time. I most curious to know if indeed Mike Frankiln was a member of this camera crew on Ships at Work. Thanks again.
NOT GOOD.Initially we saw it over the Opera House then the AMP building then directly over us spewing film or negatives then the death knell smashing into Goldfields House in full view of us... Unforgettable history before our eyes
@scott1958tube My sister was one of victims of this crash - she was 27 years old. As a family we have found it hard to come to terms with this even after 44 years. I am wearing her ring on my finger as I write this. My brother and I still miss her. ABC television recently sent us copies of the 5 films she made in her short career and she is included in the recent book 50 years of ABC Television.
My sisters aged 2 and 4 my brother aged 6 and myself aged 8 on Saturday 10 Dec 1966 will never forget Mum saying "Look at the helicopter stunting". Dad said "He's not stunting he's had it".
If you can add a few more tags like .. Helicopter, ABC, TV, Sydney, 1966 etc and you'll get more hits on this historic piece but more importantly people will be able to find it.
And not being rude but "Chopper" is spelt with 2 "p"s.
Director Patricia Ludford and cameraman Frank Parnell were shooting footage for a documentary series called "The Breakaways", about young Australians, including the aboriginal activist Charles Perkins, publisher Richard Walsh, and singer Ronnie Burns. The pilot tried to make an emergency landing on the roof of the AMP building but the chopper hit Goldfields House and fell to the ground, narrowly missing a party at the Rugby Union Club. Director, cameraman and pilot were killed. 10 December 1966.
@boringlikeadrill Your post has given me more information about the accident so long ago. My sister was the Director, Patricia Ludford. Did you know her ?
@123lindajane I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know her - I was curious because I hadn't heard of this tragedy before and did a bit of research to find out what happened and who was involved. Thanks for sharing your story here.
For further coverage of this Google "Helicopter Crash in Sydney" to see the British Pathe Newsreel on the crash.
Correction: "Belvedere" below was incorrectly spelt.
Aviator8881 8 months ago
The Coroner found the crash was caused by failure (metal fatigue) of a bolt securing the tail rotor gear box resulting in sudden, violent rotation. He was unable to determine what then happened but noted the airmanship of the pilot and: 1. The low altitued & high buildings made diving / auto rotation impossible 2 The large Saturday crowds at Circular Quay blocked the only open space 3 Jim Reilly had successfully landed after a similiar tail rotor failure in the NT where he had space & altitude.
Aviator8881 8 months ago
Pilot: James (Jim) Reilly. Originally a WWII RAF Lancaster capt. Shot down over the North Sea. A helicopter pioneer. First operational helicopter squadron. Flew all generations of RAF helicopters: Dragonfly, Sycamore, Whirlwind , Wessex & test pilot for the Belevedere. Awarded AFC for rescue work. Survived twin engine failure in Belevedere and a similiar tail rotor failure in the NT. Noted for his caution - did a full preflight check plus a short air test for balance due to the heavy camera.
Aviator8881 8 months ago
They used more than one Bell 47 in Skippy. They often had "Rotor-Work" on the fuel tank. They usually used VH-AHI in the series but at least once used VH-AHF. The helicopter that crashed in this video was VH-AHF and was owned by RotorWork Pty Ltd.
Here is a link to a photo of VH-AHF parked at Bansktown...
tinyurl dot com/vhahf
send2mc 1 year ago
Comment removed
send2mc 1 year ago
The reason i was interested was I was going for my private pilot’s license on fixed wing aircraft. We were always taught to walk the aircraft ever time before taking off. I checked the tail rotor on that aircraft. It had about a half rotation play. I assuming the people flying them would pick this up if indeed it was abnormal. I have always been haunted by the fact if I had of said something at the time the crash may not have happened
manyducks4000 1 year ago
@manyducks4000 I worked on Bell 47's many years ago & backlash of half a revolution or thereabouts would ground the aircraft as that much freedom in the tail rotor assembly would indicate a severe problem which would have revealed itself at take-off due to the power required at that stage . As a general rule they only move a little bit fore-aft if manipulated before the main rotor starts to move as well. Apparently the drive spline sheared resulting in disassembly of tail rotor mid flight
goatlube 1 year ago
correction, the choppers rego was VH-AHF
goatlube 1 year ago
the helicopter in this footage,a BELL 47 (G3B1 ?) belonged to the ROTORWORK company (the same company that provided a machine for the SKIPPY TV series).pretty certain that from photo archives it's rego was VH-ATH & was flown by James Riley. Also on board were director Patricia Ludford & cameraman Frank Parnell ..God rest their souls..despite autorotation attempts the aircraft collided with GOLDFIELDS HOUSE & ended up in the PAUL BUILDING @ 35 Pitt st. I plan to visit the site to pay respects
goatlube 1 year ago
My Father was working at the ABC in TV News as a cameraman at the time. The cause of the accident was tail rotor failure. After the crash the camera was found and recovered with the film mag partially sprung opened and as you can see the film was mostly usable with some light and fire damage. I believe the cameraman was given a posthumous award for the vision., either he locked the camera on run or held the film run button on during the spiral and crash. These people were pioneers, RIP
AlexHuisman 1 year ago
The footage shot from the ground was from a Commonwealth Film Unit production crew shooting in the city. The original ground shot footage is in 16mm colour.
Putting music behind this clip is tacky.
FILMAUSTRALIA 1 year ago 9
@FILMAUSTRALIA I was a 10 year old boy at the time, being Filmed in a Commonwealth Film Unit documentary "Ships at Work". During filming, I noticed directly above us the helicoter spinning. The cameraman turned his camera upwards to capture the last terrifying moments of this tragedy. I understand this cameraman won many local & international awards for this footage. To this day I have never been in a heliopter.
Although many years have passed, I send my sincere condolences to the families.
MrAglad 1 year ago
@MrAglad What an interesting piece of information and thank you for letting me know. As far as I'm aware there isn't any knowledge of this fact within the existing structure of what is now Screen Australia. The cameraman (on the ground) was Mike Franklin. Also I checked the status of Ships at Work and found that it has never been transfered from film so I am now in the process of telecining it and I will digitise it and will put it up for you to see on the FILMAUSTRALIA channel soon.
FILMAUSTRALIA 1 year ago
@FILMAUSTRALIA
Thank you for your reply and looking in to Ships at Work. It has been so many years since this documentary was made I would be very interested to revisit and view it. It was most definitely the cameraman on this project that captured the alarming footage.We we filming on the tugboat "Himma", just off Benelong point at the time. I most curious to know if indeed Mike Frankiln was a member of this camera crew on Ships at Work. Thanks again.
MrAglad 1 year ago
what was the cause of the crash?
mickjoebill 1 year ago
OH my goodness, that's so sad :(
AccordionManiac 2 years ago
NOT GOOD.Initially we saw it over the Opera House then the AMP building then directly over us spewing film or negatives then the death knell smashing into Goldfields House in full view of us... Unforgettable history before our eyes
scott1958tube 2 years ago
@scott1958tube My sister was one of victims of this crash - she was 27 years old. As a family we have found it hard to come to terms with this even after 44 years. I am wearing her ring on my finger as I write this. My brother and I still miss her. ABC television recently sent us copies of the 5 films she made in her short career and she is included in the recent book 50 years of ABC Television.
123lindajane 1 year ago
My sisters aged 2 and 4 my brother aged 6 and myself aged 8 on Saturday 10 Dec 1966 will never forget Mum saying "Look at the helicopter stunting". Dad said "He's not stunting he's had it".
scott1958tube 2 years ago
I actually saw this happen
scott1958tube 2 years ago
It happened on December 10, 1966. Two men and a women died.
silverjimz 2 years ago
Comment removed
1l1ll1ll1l1l1ll1l 2 years ago
Poor Buggers ,their last minute would have been terrifying...
Roddirat 2 years ago
I recall reading that the combined footage (Parnell's and UBU's) won a news reporting award of some sort...
Conniptions886 3 years ago
I wanna see James Dibbles take on this!!
samoged 3 years ago
James Dibble without glasses? More likely its a very young Ross Symons
weenyone 2 years ago
Is that a very young Ross Symonds doing the news read-in?
pullformore 3 years ago
oh my god this video. kind of amazing and dope, but sad
gburton 3 years ago
Interesting musical accompaniment! Are you taking the p*ss???
hempyexxy 3 years ago
If you can add a few more tags like .. Helicopter, ABC, TV, Sydney, 1966 etc and you'll get more hits on this historic piece but more importantly people will be able to find it.
And not being rude but "Chopper" is spelt with 2 "p"s.
Thanks for posting !!
R.I.P the victims.
:-)
aussiebeachut 3 years ago 3
um,ok...is this real or a joke?....if it is real...i'd like to know..did anyone survive?
CrazyBoutThe70s 3 years ago
Director Patricia Ludford and cameraman Frank Parnell were shooting footage for a documentary series called "The Breakaways", about young Australians, including the aboriginal activist Charles Perkins, publisher Richard Walsh, and singer Ronnie Burns. The pilot tried to make an emergency landing on the roof of the AMP building but the chopper hit Goldfields House and fell to the ground, narrowly missing a party at the Rugby Union Club. Director, cameraman and pilot were killed. 10 December 1966.
boringlikeadrill 3 years ago
Oh, and the underground film collective UBU happened to be filming on the ground when they noticed the helicopter in trouble.
boringlikeadrill 3 years ago
Thanks for the details, was never sure of the
whole story.
telerecordings 3 years ago
@boringlikeadrill Your post has given me more information about the accident so long ago. My sister was the Director, Patricia Ludford. Did you know her ?
123lindajane 1 year ago
@123lindajane I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know her - I was curious because I hadn't heard of this tragedy before and did a bit of research to find out what happened and who was involved. Thanks for sharing your story here.
boringlikeadrill 1 year ago
wow, neva heard about that and iv lived in sydney all my life
murf69 4 years ago
What year did this happen, and were there survivors?
JimReevesFan 4 years ago
Was the chopper crash the news story or was it a live cross to show sydney? (I know that the first one is more likely
mubd1234 4 years ago
I think they were getting shots of the
boat race, on film before the days of live crosses to choppers, some one else got the stuff
from the ground.Pity it did not crash into
the sea as they might have got out of it and it had floats as well.
telerecordings 4 years ago