ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 146714
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| Date: | Thursday 12 July 2012 |
| Time: | 13:20 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 Raven I |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | ZS-HIG |
| MSN: | 2150 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2012 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Game farm Africa Sand Safaris, (Limpopo province) -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Farm Vucht, Lephalale district (Limpopo province) |
| Game farm Africa Sand Safaris, (Limpopo province) | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot, accompanied by a passenger, was engaged in a private flight from a farm near the town of Lephalale, the intended destination being Africa Sand Safaris game farm, located in the Stockpoort district near the border with Botswana. The intention of the flight was to visit some friends on the farm and then to fly back to their point of departure. According to the pilot, he approached the landing area from the north and inspected the area, at the same time assessing the wind, which according to him was from the north-east, which was the heading he approached the landing area. According to the farm manager, who was watching the helicopter approaching to land the wind was from a south-westerly direction at approximately 20 knots.
The pilot brought the helicopter into hover flight over the intended landing area at a height of approximately 30 feet above ground level (AGL). The helicopter suddenly started to yaw to the right (in a clockwise direction). According to the pilot he first applied left tail rotor pedal to try and counteract the yaw but it had
no effect, he then applied right pedal in an attempt to regain control of the helicopter, but this also had no effect. The helicopter completed four full 360° rot ations and then impacted hard with the ground. This caused the right aft skid gear to collapse and the main rotor blades to strike the tail boom as well as the ground on the right-hand side of the fuselage. The pilot, who was seated on the right-hand side, suffered an injury to his lower back and the passenger injured his right elbow. They exited the helicopter unassisted.
Both occupants were admitted to a hospital in Lephalale
3.2 Probable cause
3.2.1 The pilot experienced loss of tail rotor effectiveness (LTE) and was unable to prevent the helicopter from completing several revolutions before ground impact followed.
3.3 Contributory factor/s
3.3.1 High power demand while hovering out of ground effect in a region where weathercock-stability could have induced an unanticipated yaw rate.
3.3.2 It would appear that the pilot did not correctly identify operational conditions that could have induced LTE (surface wind at the time of landing).
3.3.3 The pilot did not implement an adequate recovery technique to counteract the onset of an unanticipated right yaw (clockwise direction) by applying power at a critical phase of the flight instead of lowering the collective pitch lever as stipulated in the recovery procedure in the pilot’s operating handbook. This action by the pilot should be regarded as a significant contributory factor to this accident.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.accidents.co.za/2012/07/13/two-injured-in-johannesburg-helicopter-crash-landing-at-grand-central-airport/
http://www.caa.co.za/Accidents%20and%20Incidents%20Reports/9061.pdf
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 6 October 2015 | ZS-HIG | 0 | near Lephalale, Limpopo | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Jul-2012 04:12 | gerard57 | Added |
| 13-Jul-2012 11:44 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration] |
| 13-Jul-2012 13:23 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn] |
| 05-Sep-2020 06:19 | KagurazakaHanayo | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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