You pulled collective all the way up at 67? That was your starting Nr? Buhagiar: Yeah. That’s all I could do.
That’s a 30-ft. drop and Nr is bleeding fast. Buhagiar: Really fast. I pulled up and we touched down.
Sidorski: It was smooth and cushioned. Then the helicopter started turning and I thought, “This is where we roll and blow up.” Buhagiar:We slide in excess of 800 ft. and veer
toward the grass. I know we’re both thinking, “Please don’t roll. Please don’t roll.” Fifteen feet into the grass, it came to a stop. Sidorski:We went into action. I had my left seat
flow. Steve had his right seat flow shutting down the aircraft.
When you say flow, do you mean normal shutdowns or an emergency shutdown? Buhagiar: Bristow adopted a great system of air- line-style flows for start-up, shutdown, cruise. Not a 70-item checklist, just two or three actions each.
What do you want people to remember? Buhagiar: Keep flying. Keep talking and keep engaged. Push those scared thoughts out of your head and keep working the problem. Sidorski: I agree. If you’re by yourself, keep talking
to yourself. Keep working the problem. I think that would have been a fatal flaw if we didn’t keep talking. Buhagiar: I want to add, if you’re unfortunate enough to go through something like this, talk about it with other people. Don’t keep it to yourself. Don’t try and be a tough person. Do what you need to do to cope with it. Personally speaking, there were difficult times in the aftermath, where I only felt normal when I was flying. The rest of my life felt very out of sorts. It was tough.
Pilot mental health is a big deal. What changed for you as a result of this? Buhagiar: That adrenaline spike lasts for a time and then, suddenly, for me it was that I didn’t really care anymore. When I look back at how I was thinking then versus now, I was really in outer space and I didn’t real- ize it.
Sidorski: It was similar with me. Smaller things MARCH 2024 ROTOR 31
didn’t seem significant. I’d think, “That’s such a little problem. I’ll tell you a real problem.”
Any changes to training or preflights at Bristow? Buhagiar: This problem is not something you could preflight or even should have to train for. The steering wheel shouldn’t fall off your car while you’re driving. It’s hard to tell people to practice in the simulator with the collective all the way down.
Congratulations on the award, though it’s small compared to surviving. Closing thoughts? Sidorski: It’s fortunate it was us in the cockpit. Since we were really good friends outside of flying, we had a similar mindset. We could communicate effectively and openly.
Buhagiar: It was that friendship and openness
between us to share ideas and work together … that kept us alive.
Editor’s note: See p. 56 for more on Capts. Steve Buhagiar and David Sidorski, the 2024 HAI Matthew S. Zuccaro Land & LIVE Award winners. For the results of the US National Transportation Safety Board accident investigation, read the preliminary report at
data.ntsb.gov/carol.
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