Helicopter Pilot Shot

[pjohnson]

An Australian Helicopter Pilot was shot in Southern Sudan on Thursday afternoon while flying a Bell 212 owned by Gulf Helicopters (Doha, Qatar) on oil exploration work. He was shot in the leg and body, with the bullet from the body shot stopping just two cms from his heart. He managed to fly the machine for 30 minutes back to base. He is presently being medivaced out of Sudan for emergency surgery. all my wishes go with him and his family.

[MPH]

Some tough cookie! Good on yea mate!
Let's hope he recuperates soon. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[B Sousa]

Sudan says it all......High Risk, High Gain....Hope it works out.
Maybe someone should consider getting some of those SURPLUS Military seats. They are available. Kevlar etc with sliding panel for the window side. A bit more on the Weight and Balance but unless your diving in on the Guns you stand a better chance.

[Roadtrip]

Aussies are very hard people to kill, it seems. Best wishes for a quick recovery.

[Out of Balance]

Anyone know the name of the pilot?

[Nigel Osborn]

I'm told the pilot was David Gibbs,an Australian. He received a radio call from a ground party for an immediate pick up as there were shots being fired nearby. On landing the 212 was hit by a burst from an AK47 with 2 shots hitting him, several hitting the helicopter but none hitting his only passenger. Somehow he managed to fly off but without the passengers he had come to pick up and land safely at a base. He was flown to Johannesburg Hospital and I'm told he is doing well. The 212 was also very lucky as some shots hit in the head area. Hope the job is worth US$400 per day!!

[HelosRfun]

Damn, $400 U.S. per day you say!? That's more than I made flying fires! That's a whole lot more than I made flying in the military (while getting shot at). Thank goodness I never got hit, but considering I'm presently looking, $400 U.S. per day sounds damn good. I sent Gulf a resume'/CV, as they were recently looking. Anyone got the low-down on whether the position got filled yet?

[HelosRfun]

Oops, didn't mean to come across as being callous! Hope the dude makes a quick recovery!

[B Sousa]

Let me drop one on ya Helos......$400/day is good money, but the thing that is a problem is the U.S. Passport....State Department frowns on flying in certain African countries. Unless the US Government is footing the bill.

[ 26 December 2001: Message edited by: B Sousa ]</p>

[pjohnson]

Boy, do we ever sell ourselves cheap. Dave was making US$405 per day, but guess what. The next lowest paid person in the camp is the diesel mechanic. He's paid US$750 per day!! Most of the rest are paid somewhere between US$1000 to US$1200 per day. And they sit back in the camp surrounded by guards, while the helicopter moves around slowly at the end of a 100ft line (siesmic work).

The ad for pilots in Just Pilots was just a resume gathering exercise, so that management could show the Gulf Helicopters pilots why they don't need to give a pay increase. Sound familiar!

[HelosRfun]

Well, $405 per day isn't $1,000.00 per day, but considering I'm just sitting here, waiting for something, it sure is better than nothing. Now, as far as the $1000.00 per day jobs. Just what would those be? Must be some type of management position, as I can't see the run-of-the-mill peon making anywhere near that.

[Tokoloshe]

Anyone know more precisely where this happened? I spent time there flying Twin Otters and Turbine DC3's there not so long ago and more than once there were bits of metal flying around as well as Antonov's offloading the "metal rice" overhead the runway. Recently a Danish co-pilot on a Beech 200(Aviation Assistance) was killed from small arms fire. Sounded like a luck shot as the only other damage was a hole in the tail. I think the aircraft was out of Juba heading back to Loki and they were doing a bit of sight-seeing.
The only helos I saw flying there were Mil8/17's in the Bar-e-gezel area and they were definately getting the locals excited so I'm not too surprised that they took an opportunity to shoot back. I hope the pilot recovers soon.
As for the money, in that part of the world you are styling with $400 a day! I'm too embarrassed to mention what we got <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> We also got excited when we learned what some of the expats were earning sitting back in the camp earning danger pay (in Kenya!)
<img src="mad.gif" border="0"> <img src="mad.gif" border="0">
BTW since the last bit of Uncle Sam's hardware took out the aspirin-factory in Khartoum the Sudanese have not been keen on any Poms, Yanks or Frogs. Apart from all that it was a good experience (Loki at dawn I mean :) )
I just wish I hadn't spent all my few $$'s on wine women and song then I wouldn't have to stand outside the KFC and ask other people if I could lick their fingers!

PS those Kevlar seats would be a good call as well as some body armour.

pjohnson, do you know who they were doing the work for? A lot of the airfields we used were made by Chevron in the early '80's while they were doing some exploration work. Just curious as I'm in no rush to go back, especially in a helo.

[B Sousa]

If anyone is thinking of doing this work and needs to find some Surplus Seats and or Body Armor, give me a shout.....I can get you some websites and/or part numbers.
Tokoloshe......Is that something that would require me to raise the Bed a bit so you dont bang your forehead.....ha ha

[Tokoloshe]

Bert

Yeah, something like that :) :)

[pjohnson]

Dave got out of intensive care a couple of days ago and looks as if he will be OK. Will be off work for sometime though. It will be interesting to see how Gulf Helicopters look after him (or not).

And what do you think the company's response was to this event? They sent another Aussie pilot into southern Sudan!! (at the same pay rate, of course)

[paulgibson]

Mr. Johnson

Having worked with Gibbsy at Careflight on the Queensland Gold Coast could you please pass on 'best wishes' to him from another 'Gibbo', if possible. Cheers.

[before landing check list]

Best of wishes to the Gulf pilot. One helluva job.
Since I am a furloughed pilot here I was wondering if I could be sent the address to Gulf Air. I woud like to send them a resume.
Thank you,
j

[HelosRfun]

GULF HELICOPTERS COMPANY
Doha, Qatar
9744357938
9744411004
Also, try the <a href="http://www.justhelicopters.com" target="_blank">www.justhelicopters.com</a> website
Click on "PILOT JOBS" They had a position advertised about 2-3 weeks ago. I think it is still there. Just scroll down. More contact info with e-mail I believe.
Hope you have better luck than I've had. Not even a response (and I've sent 2 resume's/CV's over the last several months).

[Out of Balance]

Be aware that if you are not current on Bell412 and/or 212 I doubt if you will receive a reply.

[Cyclic Hotline]

How is the pilot doing, hopefully he is recovering OK?

News story related to this today, which mentions the incident. ... .<a href="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/oneworld/20020123/wl/freeze_on_oil_operations_fuels_sudan_peace_hopes_1.html" target="_blank">Sudan helicopter</a>