ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 17907
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 16 December 1996 |
| Time: | 19:20 |
| Type: |  Agusta-Bell AB 206B |
| Owner/operator: | European Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BFJW |
| MSN: | 8340 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1973 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Parkway, near Ledbury, Herefordshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Parkway, near Ledbury, Herefordshire |
| Bournemouth, Hurn (BOH/EGHH) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Ex-(D-HNWS), D-HMOG, F-BXOX, G-BFJW, EI-BRL, G-BFJW: Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16-12-1996 when tail rotor hit trees during takeoff from Parkway, near Ledbury, Herefordshire. All three persons on board (pilot and two passengers) were killed.
The helicopter was destroyed when it went out of control and crashed after its main rotor struck trees shortly after take-off. On departure from the private helipad, the helicopter had climbed, in the hover, to a height of about 20 metres. and the pilot had begun to transition to forward flight.
However, at this point the helicopter was seen to be drifting backwards and its main rotor struck the top of a fir tree, located 35 metres behind and 8 metres to the right of the helicopter's take-off point, at a height of 22 metres. The accident happened in darkness (19:20 hours Local time). Weather, scattered to broken cloud at 1,000 feet, and wind at 140 degrees/5 knots.
The helipad was an unmarked lawn running north to south behind a three-story house with tall trees on both sides. The only illumination was from room lighting within the house.
The subsequent investigation was unable to discover any fault with the helicopter. It is understood that the pilot normally took-off with the helicopter's landing lights on and then turned them off shortly after getting airborne. It is suggested that, if he followed his normal practise and turned off the lights as he began to transition to forward flight, the sudden darkness would have made it difficult for him to notice that the helicopter had begun to drift backwards.
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Helicopter destroyed". As a result, the registration G-BFJW was cancelled by the CAA on 9-5-1997 as "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. Flight International 19-25 November 1997 p.47 at https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1997/1997%20-%203187.html
2. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fa23e5274a1314000755/dft_avsafety_pdf_502386.pdf
3. CAA; https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BFJW
4. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=3584
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-May-2008 11:10 | ASN archive | Added |
| 20-Mar-2011 15:05 | harro | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 09-Nov-2012 14:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Jun-2016 16:45 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Jun-2016 16:47 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation