PRELIMINARY REPORTS
Wing Strike on Landing in Gusty Wind
Bombardier Global Express, March 8, 2017, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada—The right wingtip of a Jetport Global Express contacted the runway while the aircraft was landing at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Ontario, damaging the aileron, winglet, slat tip and outboard flap canoe. The wind at the time of the landing on Runway 24 was reported as 240 degrees at 41 knots, gusting to 55 knots. No one was injured in the accident. The Transport Safety Board of Canada is investigating.
Air Ambulance Crashes in Cow Pasture
Pilatus PC-12, April 28, 2017, Amarillo, Texas—A Part 135 air ambulance flight by a PC-12 ended soon after takeoff from Amarillo Airport (KAMA, elevation 3,605 feet msl), killing the three people on board. The IFR flight, operated by Rico Aviation, was dispatched to transport a patient from Clovis, N.M., to Lubbock, Texas. On board were the 57-year-old ATP-certified pilot, who reported 5,800 hours total flight time and 80 hours in the last six months on his most recent second-class medical application, and two medical flight crew.
The flight departed without issue, but three minutes into the flight, at 6,000 feet msl, the pilot failed to respond to an ATC transmission regarding an inoperative transponder. The controller made three more transmissions to the pilot without response. Shortly thereafter the airport tower controller saw a fireball and reported a crash. Surveillance video from a nearby business recorded the airplane in a steep descent at high speed followed by an explosion.
The airplane created a burned trench in a pasture adjacent to several stationary train cars one mile south of KAMA. The debris path was generally oriented southwest. All major structural components of the airplane were located within the wreckage.
The KAMA automated weather observation recorded wind from 360 degrees at 21 knots gusting to 28 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, broken clouds at 700 feet agl, overcast cloud layer at 1,200 feet agl, temperature 45 degrees F, dew point 45 degrees F, altimeter 29.78 inches, with peak wind from 360 degrees at 32 knots, lightning distant west, variable ceiling from 500 to 900 feet agl. A preliminary review of the weather data revealed wind shear beginning at about 6,000 feet msl, along with a temperature inversion at the same altitude.
The NTSB has retained the wreckage for further examination.
Norwegian Super Puma loses Main Rotor Head and Mast
Airbus Helicopters H225, April 29, 2017, Turøy, Norway—An Airbus Helicopters H225 (registration LN-OJF) operated by CHC Helikopter Service with two crew and 11 passengers aboard was flying from Gullfaks B (ENQG) to Bergen Airport Flesland (ENBR) at 2,000 feet when the main rotor head (MRH) and mast detached. The helicopter fell onto a small island and caught fire. Wreckage was found scattered in the water at a depth of one to nine meters. The accident was not survivable.
The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is working with the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board (AIBN) and Airbus Helicopters to determine the cause of the accident. The recordings on the CVFDR showed that everything appeared to be normal until a sudden catastrophic failure developed in one to two seconds. The CVFDR recordings ended abruptly at the same time. There are no indications that pilot actions were a factor in the accident. Investigators have conducted a spectral analysis of the CVR data. There was no obvious indication of an abnormality before the sudden detachment of the rotor head.
The wreckage was moved to the AIBN premises in Lillestrøm for more detailed inspections/examinations. The health and usage monitoring system (Hums/PCMCIA) card was retrieved and examined. Key pieces of wreckage were sent to selected laboratories, one of them at Airbus Helicopters, for detailed examination, which continues to focus on the MRH suspension bar assembly, the main gearbox and the main rotor head. Other wreckage parts and components are also being examined in parallel. Important components are still missing, however, among them the epicyclical second-stage planet gear carrier and parts of the forward suspension bar. AIBN and AAIB investigators continue to search for these components.
Cessna Caravan Hits High Terrain in Alaska
Cessna 208B, May 1, 2017, Chignik Lake, Alaska—A Cessna 208B Caravan operated by Grant Air under Part 135 hit rising terrain surrounded by steep, mountainous terrain eight miles south of Chignik Lake Airport, Chignik Lake, Alaska, killing the ATP-rated pilot. The wreckage came to rest in deep snow at about 2,993 feet on the west face of a treeless, steep mountain in the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge of the Aleutian Range, 500 feet from the top of the mountain ridge and partially submerged in the snow on its left side with the nose section under the snow pack. Weather at the time of the accident at the aircraft’s departure point, Port Heiden Airport, Alaska, was VFR. At 12:39 p.m., an aviation special weather report from Chignik Airport (the closest weather reporting facility) reported, in part: wind variable at 4 knots; visibility 10 statute miles, light rain; sky condition, overcast at 1,700 feet. The aircraft was destined for Perryville Airport, Perryville, Alaska.
Possible Tail-rotor and Gearbox Failure
Bell 407, May 2, 2017, Grand Bay, La.—A Bell 407, N457PH, registered to and operated by PHI Helicopters of Lafayette, La., on a VFR Part 135 flight with four passengers made a precautionary landing at Grand Bay receiving station, an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico near Boothville, La., after the pilot noticed vibration. As the pilot shut down the engine the vibration worsened and required the rotor brake to quickly bring the engine and accessories to a stop. Post-accident inspection revealed tip cap separation from one of the tail-rotor blades and cracks on the tail-rotor gearbox, mounting hardware and tailboom—substantial damage, according to the NTSB preliminary report. The pilot and four passengers on board were not injured. The flight was en route to Main Pass 311A in the Gulf of Mexico.
AStar Down in Bergen Harbor
Airbus Helicopters AS350B3, May 10, 2017, Bergen, Norway—A UK-registered AStar with three people on board hit the water after missing the landing pad on the pleasure yacht Bacarella in the fjord outside Bergen harbor, seriously injuring one passenger; two others suffered minor injuries. The helicopter, which was equipped with an emergency flotation system, came to rest upside down in the water.
Video clips of the accident were captured from different positions, one of them a CCTV camera on the helicopter deck of the yacht. As the AStar was coming in for landing, the yacht camera shows a cover for the fuel depot at the helipad being lifted up in the air by the main rotor downdraft. It subsequently flew through the arc of the main rotor disc. The pilot saw the cover moving and climbed away, but the cover hit the main rotor and the helicopter rotated around its vertical axis while moving backwards, hitting the water tail first. The pilot activated the flotation system, preventing the helicopter from sinking. The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue arrived immediately after the accident and rescued the three people from the helicopter. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has secured all data recording devices from the helicopter wreckage and the investigation is continuing.
Learjet 25B Lost on Takeoff near Mexico City
Bombardier Learjet 25B, May 17, 2017, Toluca-Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos International Airport, Mexico—A Mexican-registered Learjet 25B operated by Aerotransportes Huitzilin crashed shortly after takeoff from Runway 15 at Toluca International Airport in Mexico, just outside Mexico City, killing the two pilots. The airplane came to rest about 600 feet from the runway end and was partially consumed by fire.
FINAL REPORT
Eurocopter Crashed on Maintenance Flight after Inadequate Pre-flight
Airbus Helicopters EC155B1, April 2, 2015, Carapicuíba, São Paulo, Brazil—An EC155 departed on a post-maintenance flight from Carapicuíba, São Paulo, Brazil, that covered just 1.27 nm before it descended into a large residential compound, killing all five people on board. One of the victims was the youngest son of the governor of São Paulo, Brazil. A helicopter pilot, he had run into a colleague at a gas station, who invited him along for the test flight and he was in the left-hand seat. The Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) determined that the cause of the accident was that the helicopter’s controls were never completely reconnected after maintenance. All such connections are typically inspected by the pilot-in-command before flight and always inspected by the mechanics before releasing a helicopter as safe for flight. Investigators called out organizational factors at the maintenance facility; the mechanic balancing the rotor blades was called away for another task, and the maintenance inspector completed the balancing.
Accident inspectors found in the wreckage that the right-hand roll ball-type flexible control was disconnected from the right-hand roll bellcrank; the right-hand roll ball-type flexible control and right-hand roll bellcrank connection screw was found housed in the right-hand roll bellcrank, with its washer and with the "pointed" nut on some threads (nut partially threaded on the bolt). Research showed the helicopter underwent maintenance that included compliance with "Inspection Criteria—Main Rotor Flexible Ball Controls.” In that task the mechanic must disconnect the flexible controls from their respective bellcranks and reconnect the components at the end of the service; however, there was no record of a completion sign-off by the inspector, which would have indicated that he had inspected the components for integrity at the completion of the task.
The helicopter’s manufacturer, Airbus, specified, performed and tracked repairs on the five blades, and painted them, each on a different date. The shop performing that maintenance ran out of paint thinner, putting the helicopter’s maintenance behind schedule. When the thinner arrived all the blades were painted and sent to Helibras’s maintenance facility immediately, disregarding the maintenance manual requirement for seven days of paint curing before installation. Airbus said in the investigation that since the paint was not air-dried but kiln-cured at 60 degrees C, it did not require seven days of curing and that the blades were immediately ready for installation and dynamic balancing. Cenipa’s report pointed out that such a procedure is not in the helicopter or blade maintenance manual. Airbus maintained that the blade paint was not to blame for the accident.
At the end of last year the police delegate presiding over the accident indicted three people for five wrongful killings; one for procedural fraud; and one for false witness. The indictments were later dismissed. A criminal investigation is under way, however, by the public prosecutor’s office in Carapicuíba.
In its recommendations, Cenipa urged the operator to ensure that an effective mechanism is in place to control the updating of aircraft maintenance logs; it is working to ensure the adoption of operational procedures within that company that prevent flights if there is no record of the pre-flight inspection being carried out in the logbook; it is helping the operator adopt procedures prohibiting passengers on operational check flights, which is in accordance with current legislation; and it is working with the maintenance facility on better control of mechanics' and inspectors' records. Finally, it is working with Airbus to specify in appropriate documentation the necessary conditions and cure time for completion of the polymerization process of the blades.