Accident Eurocopter AS 365N3 Dauphin 2 VT-PHK,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 178314
 
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Date:Tuesday 4 August 2015
Time:
Type:Silhouette image of generic AS65 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Eurocopter AS 365N3 Dauphin 2
Owner/operator:Pawan Hans Helicopters (PHHL)
Registration: VT-PHK
MSN: 6631
Year of manufacture:2002
Fatalities:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:12 km S of Khonsa, Tirap district, Arunachal state -   India
Phase: En route
Nature:Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:Khonsa helipad, Arunachal Pradesh
Destination airport:Longding helipad, Arunachal Pradesh
Investigating agency: AAIB India
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
On the day of accident, the helicopter was planned to operate a flight from Itanagar to Dibrugarh, Khonsa, Longding, Changlang and back via Dibrugarh to Itanagar, India.
The helicopter started up at 04:21 UTC and took off from Dibrugarh at 04:25 UTC for Khonsa under Special VFR conditions. At 04:57 UTC the pilot informed Chabua ATC that they had got airborne
from Khonsa and were climbing to 4500 ft. Estimated time of landing at Longding was 05:08 UTC. They also informed that the destination helipad was at 39 miles from Dibrugarh and at a radial of 156. At 05:00 UTC pilot informed Chabua ATC that they were climbing to 5500 feet. Chabua ATC informed them to report on landing. At 0508 UTC Chabua ATC called up the helicopter but didn't get any reply. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the helicopter by Chabua ATC. The helicopter was subsequently declared overdue.
The wreckage was finally located 6 August.

Probable Cause
- The helicopter after taking off in bad weather and while trying to negotiate weather flew on alternate route getting disoriented resultantly hitting hill in the area.
- Non familiarity with the topography around alternate route, in the absence of route maps and charts, contributed to the accident.
- Lack of supervision & absence of flight follow up in the organisation as required by SOP contributed to the accident.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: AAIB India
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years and 8 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.firstpost.com/india/missing-pawan-hans-chopper-found-in-arunachal-pradesh-rescue-operations-on-2378670.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Missing-Pawan-Hans-chopper-sighted-in-Arunachals-Tirap-district/articleshow/48345698.cms_
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/wreckage-of-missing-pawan-hans-helicopter-found-in-arunachal-prades/article7521430.ece?ref=relatedNews
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/search-on-for-missing-helicopter/article7505080.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/arunachal-chopper-crash-3-bodies-spotted/article7530045.ece

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
05-Aug-2015 12:00 plcedi Added
05-Aug-2015 12:10 gerard57 Updated [Country]
05-Aug-2015 13:19 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type, Phase, Nature, Narrative]
05-Aug-2015 13:21 Aerossurance Updated [Total occupants, Narrative]
06-Aug-2015 09:32 Aerossurance Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Damage, Narrative]
14-Aug-2015 17:20 ABN397 Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
12-Sep-2015 15:42 gerard57 Updated [Registration]
25-Nov-2015 10:31 TB Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Location]
12-Apr-2018 12:48 harro Updated [Narrative]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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