WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

So I'm in the man cave last week and hear a chopper approaching from the NE when it makes a very unusual sound. I go out to have a look and it's struggling to climb with a hell of a lot of noise like the engine was really under stress or on full acceleration. As it's climbing it's kind of swinging like a pendulum.

It regains some height as it was extremely low, levels out and flies off southward trailing a small plume of black smoke. I ring WAPOL and DFES to advise them of what I'd seen and they both said to call the other.

I rang because I was worried the pilot would not see the smoke as it was trailing off the rear rotor and that it could become a real emergency....ie. crash.

I live in Craigie and it appeared to be flying back to Jandakot and the thin trail of smoke was obvious as it flew off.

I kept watching until I couldn't really see it anymore, it was the same "type" of chopper as the DFES one, it was black also but with a yellow horizontal stripe along the outside of the cabin.

Do any of the members here know the chopper or have seen it around

Just curious

G

Thats a bit scary. But i have called DFES a few time in the past to report dangerous things that were fire related and all i got back was "what would you like us to do about it" i dont know if it just some of the operators but yea they didnt want to hear about it, so then your left think who do i call then.

While I havn't heard about any choppers with issues... Trust me when i say - if the chopper's engine was having issues, the Pilot would be the first person to know.

It's a bit of a shame that the operators showed so little care... if this had turned into an emergency, I highly doubt that the coroner/ATSB would have taken a positive view to this.