Anil Ambani’s Great Escape

Had a technician not spotted the foreign bodies in the mechanism of Ambani’s helicopter, it could have led to disaster

Helicopters are the least stable of flying machines and had a technician not found the pebbles in the gear box, and sand and gravel in the fuel tank filter of Anil Ambani’s Bell 412, it could have led to disaster. A Bell 412 chopper has two fuel tanks and can fly for about two-and-a-half hours. Filters are very fine and such foreign bodies can’t go through easily. But if a few grains do get through, it can block the fuel pump, affecting supply of gasoline to the engine. Normally, a warning of a clogged pump appears on the pilot’s console. And even if one fuel filter is clogged, it will have a bypass, another line to supply fuel. If all the checks and balances failed, there’d be engine failure. Imagine the consequences mid-air. Well spotted.

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