Preliminary Reports
Bell 206B Loses Power on Approach
Bell 206B, Sept. 2, 2016, east of Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada—A Far West Helicopters Bell 206B supporting mining operations in a remote camp in British Columbia lost engine power during final approach to the makeshift helipad at the camp. The pilot lost control of the helicopter, which hit the ground and came to rest in a narrow creek bed adjacent to the landing site, seriously injuring the pilot and damaging the aircraft.
Helicopter Downed by Powerlines in Cruise Flight
Bell 206B, Sept. 4, 2016, Flatlands, New Brunswick, Canada—A Bell 206B registered to Quebec Inc. operating at full cruise speed in level flight along the Restigouche River encountered power lines near Flatlands, west of Campbellton, which, according to witnesses, resulted in an explosion. The helicopter hit an embankment and came to rest in the water, killing the pilot and one passenger; a second passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The flight, operating in day VMC, was en route from Charlo Airport, New Brunswick, to Riviere-du-Loup Airport, Quebec.
Wildlife Survey Helicopter Experiences Power Loss
Bell 206B, Sept. 5, 2016, Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada—A Bell 206B operated by Ridge Rotors, a helicopter services company, lost power in flight during a wildlife survey mission flown out of Whitecourt, Alberta. The helicopter descended into trees and then hit the ground, killing one passenger and seriously injuring the pilot. One other passenger sustained only minor injuries. Transport Canada listed the Bell 206B as substantially damaged.
S-61N Crashes After Maintenance
Sikorsky S-61N, Sept. 6, 2016, Palm Bay, Fla.—An ATP-certified pilot, his commercial copilot and a maintenance crewmember were killed when the 41-seat Sikorsky S-61N they were flying for AAR Airlift Group on a post-maintenance test flight near Palm Bay, Fla., inexplicably fell to the ground, coming to rest upright in a field with no debris path. A post-crash fire consumed the cockpit and cabin.
The helicopter departed Melbourne International Airport and was filmed performing maneuvers and orbits at 100 feet agl near the accident site; however, there were no witnesses to the accident itself. Weather at the departure airport was wind from 070 degrees at 11 knots, visibility 10 miles and few clouds at 5,000 feet. According to the operator, the helicopter’s fore/aft pitch servo had recently been removed and replaced. Subsequently, a functional check flight (FCF) was performed, which included maximum performance maneuvers at maximum takeoff weight.
The pilots were experienced, the captain having 5,500 flight hours in helicopters (1,500 of them in the Sikorsky S-61N) and the copilot with 4,000 flight hours, all in helicopters.
The helicopter was maintained under a continuous airworthiness program. Its most recent inspection was a phase five check, at which point it had 40,296.2 hours of operation. The No. 1 engine had accumulated 711.6 hours since major overhaul and the No. 2 engine had accumulated 133.4 since light overhaul. The helicopter had flown about 1.2 hours from the time of the last inspection, including two uneventful FCF flights the day of the accident.
The tailboom remained intact. The five main rotor blades and five tail-rotor blades remained attached to their hubs. The main and tail-rotor blades showed signs of low rotational energy. Four of the five main rotor blades had partial fire damage and one main rotor blade was burned along its entire span. One tail-rotor blade was fractured 12 inches outboard of the attachment bolt; the outboard section of the separated blade was found on the ground next to the tail rotor. Another tail-rotor blade was partially separated 12 inches outboard of the attachment bolt and its tip was embedded in the ground. Drivetrain continuity between the main transmission and the tail-rotor gearbox was intact.
Both 1,500-shp General Electric CT58-140-2 turboshafts were attached to the airframe but burned. The stage-one compressor blades of both engines showed little or no leading-edge damage. Both engine fuel control units were found with their respective control shaft in the flight position. Both engines were separated from the main gearbox at the aft end of the high-speed shaft.
A cockpit voice recorder was recovered from the wreckage and forwarded to the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Laboratory in Washington, D.C., for data download.
Austrian Robinson R66 Destroyed
Robinson R66, Sept. 8, 2016, Carinthia, Austria—An Austrian-registered Robinson R66 on a flight that originated in Elberfelder Hutte, Austria, and was en route to Salzburg (LOWS), Austria, crashed into mountainous terrain, killing its pilot and passenger. VMC prevailed at the time of the accident. The Austrian Federal Office of Transport, Accident Investigation Division is in charge of the investigation.
Pilot of Super King Air Loses Control on Landing
Beechcraft Super King Air B200, Sept. 10, 2016, Orlando Apopka Airport, Florida—Loss of directional control during an aborted landing attempt caused a Beechcraft Super King Air B200 to swerve off the runway and hit a tree, resulting in a post-crash fire that consumed the right wing and engine. Witnesses said that it appeared the pilot was going around when a gust of wind “lifted” the airplane before it veered off the runway. The 71-year-old sole-occupant pilot declined treatment for lacerations.
Uncommanded Bank Puts Helicopter in Trees
Agusta A109S, Sept. 17, 2016, Alexandria, Minnesota—An Agusta A109S operated by North Memorial Health Center was on an IFR positioning flight with a pilot and two crewmembers when uncommanded bank inputs from the autopilot during a missed approach forced the aircraft into trees, and subsequently onto the ground, seriously injuring all on board.
The pilot stated that he was attempting the Rnav GPS 22 approach above a rapidly forming cloud deck. The wind was from 290 degrees at 12 knots, four miles visibility, mist, broken clouds at 300 feet, temperature and dew point 57 degrees F. When he could not see the airport environment he initiated a “missed approach” with the “go around” function on the Agusta’s autopilot when the helicopter made an uncommanded left bank followed by a right bank. The pilot told investigators he attempted to correct with opposite cyclic control, but to no avail. The helicopter encountered tall trees near the approach path, and then hit the ground in the wooded area.
Learjet 31A Skids off Jakarta Runway in Heavy Rain
Learjet 31A, Sept. 25, 2016, Jakarta-Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport—Heavy rain and a wet runway at Jakarta-Halim Perdana Kusuma airport contributed to the crash of a Learjet 31A chartered by the Indonesian Red Cross for a medical evacuation flight from Yogyakarta Adi Sucipto Airport. Eight people on board were evacuated safely from the wreckage after the jet skidded off Runway 24 following an ILS in heavy rain with half-mile visibility and wind from eight to 13 knots.
The aircraft came to rest in the grass between two taxiways. Significant damage was found to the left wing, and the jet lost its right main landing gear.
Bell 430 Lost En Route to Platform
Bell 430, Sept. 26, 2016, Malongo, Angola—A fully loaded Bell 430 (five passengers plus pilot) on contract to Chevron Oil subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil left its home port of Malongo for a short shuttle flight to the company’s Tombua-Landana offshore oil platform–it never arrived. The crew and passengers are presumed dead. Nineteen boats and three helicopters were participating in the search for debris along the route.
Caravan Hits Hillside after Mechanical Malfunction
Cessna 208B Caravan, Sept. 30, 2016, San Antonio de Prado, Colombia—A Cessna Caravan 208B carrying the pilot and 10 passengers hit a hillside after encountering an unknown mechanical failure just after takeoff from Medellin-Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport on a domestic charter flight and attempting a forced landing. The aircraft was destroyed. There were four fatalities.
Final Reports
Disorientation Blamed in Agusta 109S Tree Strike
Agusta 109S, June 10, 2016, Ellerston, New South Wales, Australia—During an attempt to put down at a poorly lit helicopter landing site in IMC in Ellerston, New South Wales, Australia, an Agusta 109S with a pilot a three passengers on board was significantly damaged (on its right side landing lights, horizontal stabilizer, vertical fin and rotating beacon) when it apparently struck a tree while searching for the landing site.
The pilot had flown to the site in day VMC, but not at night. He expected it to be lit upon his arrival after dark. He navigated using GPS; however, upon arriving he was unsure of the exact location of the landing site because of poor illumination. He overflew buildings and tracked back and forth to confirm his location, attempting to maintain about 500 feet agl, when the 200-foot radio altimeter “landing gear” warning sounded, indicating that the helicopter was either descending or heading toward rising ground. The pilot rapidly raised full collective in response. The pilot completed the landing when ground personnel provided lighting from car headlights. The pilot was not aware of having struck anything and no damage was detected during refueling at Ellerston; however, he ferried the helicopter to Camden, nearby, where it was brought into a well lit hangar and the damage was discovered.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau determined that the pilot contacted trees during disorientation while performing a “black hole” approach caused by a lack of ground lighting and a lack of celestial illumination. The bureau faulted the pilot for not maintaining at least 3,500 feet vertically and two to three nm horizontally from the site while he resolved the site lighting issue. Lack of training in “black hole” approaches and inadequate site orientation contributed to the incident.
Fokker F28 Experienced Sudden In-flight Decompression
Fokker F28-1000, June 7, 2016, Perth, Western Australia—A chartered Fokker F28-1000 twinjet with 28 passengers and five crewmembers on board en route from Christmas Creek to Perth, Western Australia, experienced a loud “whooshing” noise near the forward lav and subsequently encountered an in-flight aircraft depressurization at FL305 that required an emergency descent to 10,000 msl.
As the Fokker climbed through FL200 the cabin crew heard a whistling sound coming from the forward lav. Cabin altitude was 6,000 feet, according to the captain; however, he did notice that the rate of cabin pressurization (ascent) had accelerated to 500 fpm from 200 to 300 fpm. The pilot monitoring noted that the cabin was losing pressurization. He contacted ATC and requested a level-off at FL320, lower than assigned. Shortly thereafter the flight crew received a Pack 1 level 2 warning that required them to shut down that air conditioning pack. At that juncture they noticed the cabin pressurization rate had jumped to a climb rate of 2,000 fpm, indicating rapid depressurization.
They advised ATC a descent was necessary and the flight was cleared only to FL290. At that point the flight crew received an autothrottle level 1 warning. They initiated a descent, commenced emergency procedures for the pack reset and autothrottles, and within two minutes the “excessive cabin altitude level 3” warning activated, triggering the cabin oxygen masks to drop. Meanwhile, the flight crew had donned masks and the pilot monitoring contacted ATC with a Pan call. They received a clearance to descend to 10,000 feet msl immediately, which they did.
Maintenance personnel later saw an indication of a duct over-temperature on Pack 1, a controller fault and a heavy leak in the recirculation duct of Pack 2. There was a massive leak from the inlet and outlet of Pack 1, and a large hole found in the plenum duct, as well. An outflow valve on the pressurization system was found to be “sticky.”
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau attributed the depressurization to pack 2, which could not pressurize the aircraft because it was the sole air supply and had a significant recirculation duct leak.