Preliminary Reports
Five Lost in French Helicopter Collision
Aerospatiale SA342M (two), Feb. 2, 2018, Lac de Carcès, Var, France—Five French Army officers were killed in the midair collision of two SA342M Gazelle helicopters conducting training exercises. All five were reportedly experienced pilots. The aircraft were operated by the EALAT light aircraft training school at nearby Cannes des Maures. The five-seat Gazelle is used in France’s ongoing security operations in Mali and other counterterrorist roles.
Death Toll in Grand Canyon Crash Reaches Five
Eurocopter EC130B4, Feb. 10, 2018, Peach Springs, Arizona—Two of the three passengers who initially survived the crash of a Papillon Airways tour helicopter in Quartermaster Canyon have since succumbed to their injuries. Three others were pronounced dead at the scene. Four weeks afterward the pilot remained in critical condition, while the only surviving passenger's condition had been upgraded to “fair.”
The accident occurred on approach to a landing zone on the canyon floor in gusting winds about half an hour before sunset. Witnesses reported seeing the helicopter begin a left turn as it approached the landing area, then drift backwards slightly as the turn accelerated into a left spin. The helicopter made at least two complete revolutions before descending into a gully. Most of its structure was consumed by a post-crash fire.
Rescue efforts continued into the following morning, hindered by darkness and increasing winds. On March 7, Papillon announced plans to retrofit all its EC130B4s and AS350B3s with crash-resistant fuel tanks.
Destruction of Russian Airliner Linked to Airspeed Discrepancies
Antonov AN148-100B, Feb. 11, 2018, Ramenskoye, Moscow District, Russia—After preliminary analysis of the airplane’s flight data recorder, Russia’s Interstate Aviation Commission reported that the crash of Saratov Airlines Flight 703 followed widening discrepancies between the values reported by the pilot’s and standby airspeed indicators. (Readings from the copilot’s ASI were not recorded.) All 65 passengers and six crewmembers were killed when the twin-engine regional jet went down seven minutes after taking off from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.
The readings began diverging two and a half minutes after takeoff as the airplane climbed through 4,000 feet, with the pilot’s ASI initially reading higher. Altitude indications remained in agreement. The “Match IAS” annunciator illuminated when the difference reached 30 km/h (16 knots), then extinguished after 10 seconds. A second alert followed 50 seconds later at an altitude of 6,500 feet, with the standby indicator now showing higher airspeed. The crew disconnected the autopilot. Indicated airspeed on the pilot’s gauge declined to zero over the next 34 seconds and remained there for the rest of the flight. Airspeed measured by the standby indicator decreased to just over 100 knots before the airplane pitched down 30 to 35 degrees, then increased rapidly to 430 knots at impact.
The FDR also showed that despite temperatures of -5 degrees Celsius, pitot heat had not been activated on any of the three airspeed probes. Ice blockage of a pitot tube causes two types of indication errors. If the tube’s drain hole is also blocked, trapped ram air pressure will make indicated airspeed increase with altitude as ambient pressure falls. If the drain hole is open, ram pressure bleeds off and indicated airspeed drops to zero.
B.C. Departure Accident Results in Certificate Suspension
Beechcraft King Air A100, Feb. 23, 2018, Abbotsford, British Columbia—Transport Canada suspended the operating certificate of Island Express Air six days after its King Air 100 crashed into a raspberry field while taking off from the Abbotsford airport during a snowstorm. Two of the ten on board were hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening, and two others suffered less serious injuries.
Regulators cited the small regional airline, which provides service from the mainland to Vancouver Island, for violations of the Canadian Aviation Regulations but did not provide details. They said the suspension will remain in effect until the operator can prove “it can keep its operations consistently compliant with aviation safety regulations.”
Conquest Lands on Great Northern Highway
Cessna 441 Conquest II, March 2, 2018, 25 miles east of Broome, Western Australia—No injuries or aircraft damage were reported after a Skippers Aviation turboprop made an emergency landing on Australia’s Great Northern Highway following the loss of power in both engines. The flight was transporting nine passengers from Fitzroy Crossing in the Northern Territory. As the airplane began its descent for landing at Broome, the right engine began surging, followed by the left engine.T he pilot made a mayday call and shut down the right engine only to have the left stop shortly afterward. The quantity of fuel on board has not yet been reported.
Final Reports
Warning Circuit Failed To Indicate Unlatched Cabin Door
IAI 1125 Westwind Astra, July 23, 2015, Baltimore, Maryland—Non-functional self-locking air springs and a quirk of the cabin door warning circuit allowed the crew to take off without realizing the door was unlatched, according to a final report issued January 25. Contact between the latching pin and stirrup closed the circuit to extinguish the warning light without the pin being properly seated. The door opened just after takeoff and the crew returned for an emergency landing. There were no injuries to the pilots or five passengers, but the fuselage was damaged when the open door dragged on the pavement during the landing.
Carlsbad Pilot Had Been Warned Not To Fly Without Instructor
Airbus Helicopters AS350 B3E, Nov. 18, 2015, Carlsbad, California—The new owner who destroyed his 4,960-pound, 848-hpr aircraft trying to land it on a dolly had been warned by at least three flight instructors not to fly it without supervision, according to the NTSB. In its final report, the Board noted those instructors had urged the pilot to get additional training before operating the helicopter on his own, recommendations with which he had “concurred.” However, less than three weeks before the accident, he cancelled his reservation for factory transition training.
The 65-year-old owner, president of a Montana bank, and his 60-year-old passenger were killed when the helicopter struck its tail skid, rolled over, and spun on the ramp after his fourth attempt to land on a wheeled dolly came in short. Both men were rated helicopter pilots, but the passenger had no documented AS350 experience. The owner had received less than 11 hours of familiarization training in the three weeks since buying the aircraft.
According to witness accounts and cellphone footage, the pilot’s initial approach touched down short, with the rear half of the skids hanging off the back of the platform. After rocking backwards and striking its tailskid, the helicopter began oscillating back and forth hard enough to dislodge one of the dolly’s chocks. The pilot lifted off and landed on the line between Taxiway A and the ramp, but had the line crew replace the chocks for another try rather than repositioning the helicopter to the ramp.
The second and third attempts terminated in five-foot hovers. The fourth touched down with the skids again hanging off the dolly’s aft edge. After striking its tailskid for a second time the helicopter nosed forward and lifted off, then spun 180 degrees left while pitching up 45 degrees. The tail rotor and vertical stabilizer separated after hitting the pavement. The helicopter bounced and “landed hard on its belly,” spinning at about one revolution per second for the next five minutes and sliding 530 feet down the ramp. The tailboom and horizontal stabilizer separated before it “rolled onto its side, shedding the main rotor blades.” In-cockpit footage showed that the pilot lost consciousness during the final contact with the ground; the passenger remained aware for two more minutes but was unable to shut down the engine.
The pilot had previously owned a Bell 407, whose rotor turned in the opposite direction (requiring opposite use of the anti-torque pedals) and whose skid toes, unlike those in the AS350, were visible from the cockpit. The extent of his helicopter experience is unknown; investigators did not locate his logbooks, and each of his past five medical applications had claimed “25,000 hours” of total flight experience (including fixed-wing). His toxicology screen was positive for alprazolam (Xanax) and the antihistamine diphenhydramine. The report noted, “The use of two CNS depressants simultaneously typically results in cognitive impairment which is magnified well beyond the simple addition of the effects.”
Fatal Gulf of Mexico Accident Unexplained
Bell 407, Feb. 27, 2017, Chauvin, Louisiana—The NTSB was unable to determine why the pilot of a Westwind Bell 407 descended into the Gulf of Mexico while returning to base from the South Timbalier ST37 oil platform. The accident occurred at 10:33 a.m. in visibility estimated at 15 nautical miles. Data from the helicopter’s SkyConnect onboard monitoring system showed it climbing to a maximum altitude of 729 feet before beginning a steady descent on a constant heading of 336 degrees.
In a probable-cause report, the Board noted that the pilot was appropriately qualified. Toxicology tests were negative. Aircraft damage suggested a high-speed, shallow-angle impact with the water’s surface with no evidence of any malfunction before impact. The report concluded that the reasons for the pilot’s failure to maintain altitude “could not be determined based on the available information.”
Collision with King Air Destroys Drone
Beechcraft King Air A100, Oct. 12, 2017, Québec City, Québec—Canadian authorities were unable to identify the operator of the unmanned aircraft that collided with Sky Jet Flight 512 during its final approach to the Québec/Jean-Lesage International Airport. The King Air was descending through 2,500 feet on a seven-mile final to Runway 24 when the pilots spotted “a drone, about the size of a dinner plate, in front of the left wing.” Damage to the airplane was limited to a dent in the outboard section of the left wing’s de-icing boot and scratches on the wing’s upper skin. The drone “disintegrated” and no debris was recovered.