Giro 2020 - Stage 4: Catania – Villafranca Tirrena 140 km *Spoilers*

Pross

blazing_saddles said:

I see the hindsight boys are out in force again, trying to pin the blame on the UCI/RCS.

When Hoogerland went on barbed wire inspection during the 2011 Tour, was everyone jumping on the ASO case then, or blaming the stupid driver?

Seems there has been a general complaint that it's also been too low on the climbs, but it could be partly due to the weather.
So kick the Helicopter pilot off the race and fork out for somebody with plenty of experience on the job.

If the helicopter flew higher people would moan that their view of the race was blocked by cloud cover, people like to moan (rider safety has to be the primary consideration though). I'd originally assumed the barriers had been moved to give some privacy to the riders on the ground and was fearing the worst especially as one of them wasn't moving at first.

No_Ta_Doctor

https://twitter.com/lionelbirnie/status/1313793853493837827

https://twitter.com/mrendell/status/1313794164837019648

So, not entirely a freak unpredictable accident, but something that happens occasionally and could be dealt with by a small amount of pilot training "keep outside a minimum of x meters from the riders". Shouldn't be too difficult for the UCI to regulate and oversee. That's how responsibility works.

davep1

peteco said:

Excellent stage introduction again thanks. Stayed at Taormina a few years ago, stunning food and scenery, and loads of cyclists out on the hills.

Pete

Taormina was one of the nicest places I have ever been! We went there late January, so very out of season, maybe 25 years ago. We were treated so nicely, it was like being royalty.
+1 for the introduction too, can't wait for stages 9 and 10.

larkim

By all accounts they've stopped blaming the heli now. I think the suspicion is that someone moved the barriers manually.

blazing_saddles

larkim said:

By all accounts they've stopped blaming the heli now. I think the suspicion is that someone moved the barriers manually.

It's only by chance that I didn't call out the fact that we weren't aware of the full story and there you go.........

Still, we can now blame the UCI/RCS for not having a carabinieri on the spot.

salsiccia1

So are you saying we just accept it?

salsiccia1

Delete

RichN95.

When they were filming this shot in The Sound of Music the helicopter kept blowing Julie Andrews over

Lanterne_Rogue

Impressive midair costume change though...



There are rules about helicopters flying too close to people and creating a dangerous situation (in fact I'm fairly sure there's also a minimum height that got busted here), but they'll be the civil aviation rules and nothing to do with cycling. Flying a helicopter for this kind of job is extremely demanding as the pilot has to be aware of everything that's going on in the airspace, where the helicopter is in relation to everything on the ground, and also placing it in the right area for the camera shot. In this case they've clearly lost track of their height. Possibly less surprising towards the end of the TV shift.

The recent hoo-ha about the wonderful shots from the worlds also seem to be putting some (perhaps subconscious, perhaps TV led) pressure on pilots to get lower as riders cross bridges etc - if they're getting used to flying lower in open countryside then some of the instinctive feel for maintaining a height margin is going to be eroded.

I suspect if this happened in the UK, with downwash landing someone in hospital, there'd be an Air Accident Investigation Board investigation to find out what happened and if any recommendations are needed.

Drones aren't necessarily the answer, btw - the monthly AAIB round up now seems to have a section that might as well be be titled "drones mysteriously losing control, shedding rotors, or otherwise transforming to brick mode and plummeting out of the sky at speeds likely to kill someone".