ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 215116
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: | Wednesday 5 September 2018 |
| Time: | 10:28 UTC |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale SA.341G Gazelle |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N505HA |
| MSN: | 1022 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1972 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1453 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca Astazou IIIA |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport (KJK/EBKT) -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport (KJK/EBKT) |
| Valenciennes/Denain Airport (XVS/LFAV) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIU Belgium |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter took off vertically from a parking spot between two hangars outside of the aerodrome perimeter at the northside of the Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport (EBKT).
While hovering at 80 ft AMSL (approximately 8 m AGL), a sudden stall of the compressor (surge) occurred and the engine lost power.
The pilot decided to land the helicopter in autorotation by reducing the collective pitch and moving the cyclic control forward. The helicopter made a hard landing in the grass area just in front of the aerodrome perimeter fence.
The main rotor hit the fence and catapulted a fence pole 50 m away. The helicopter finally came to a rest on its left side.
Findings as to causes and contributing factors
- An improper setting of the fuel flow control (FFC) lever which resulted in a sudden loss of power caused by a surge of the gas turbine engine. [direct cause]
- The practice to hover out of ground effect and transition to forward flight (operating in the shaded area of the H/V diagram), also asked for a big power demand reducing the margin between power required and power available. [cause]
- The helicopter was loaded near its maximum mass, also reducing the margin between power required and available. [contributing factor]
- Because the helicopter was operating in the shaded area of the H/V diagram, the pilot was unable to land his helicopter safely. [contributing factor]
- The dirty airpath of the engine air intake could have contributed to a reduced surge margin of the engine. Together with the light tail wind possibly contributed to the surge of the compressor. [contributing factor]
- The layout of the movement area of the aerodrome at time of the accident led helicopter pilots to ‘jumping over the fence’. This was a common practice at EBKT and, although foreseen in the Aerodrome Operating Manual, the airport authorities did never give any feedback to the concerned pilot or state its standpoint regarding the adequacy of the takeoff practices. [contributing factor]
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.aviafora.com/forums/forum/helicopter-fora/gazelles/343-shrieking-gazelles?p=9738#post9738
https://www.7sur7.be/7s7/fr/1502/Belgique/article/detail/3472288/2018/09/05/Un-helicoptere-se-crashe-a-Wevelgem.dhtml
https://www.gva.be/cnt/dmf20180905_03703504/helikopter-gecrasht-op-luchthaven-wevelgem-passagiers-lichtgewond?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=dlvrit&utm_campaign=feed
registration from https://helispot.nl/hs/page/detail.asp?oid=D2c2D3e6&sub=logboek; c/n from Air Britain: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1560960
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/gazelle-jumping-fence/
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 8 June 1988 | JA9164 | Toho Airlines | 0 | Tokyo Heliport |  |
sub |
Location
Media:
The airfield layout led #helicopter pilots to ‘jumping over the fence’ from landside hangars. As this helicopter transitioned an engine surge led to it crashing into the perimeter fence. https://t.co/Ncx9gT1YCG #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety #airportoperations pic.twitter.com/P20Y7iV2z6
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) October 9, 2021
Helikopter stort neer vanop twintig meter hoogte op luchthaven Wevelgem: passagiers lichtgewond https://t.co/m33aLS1Sc2 pic.twitter.com/FrkuN96apQ
— Nieuwsblad.be (@Nieuwsblad_be) September 5, 2018
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Sep-2018 11:32 | sundevil | Added |
| 05-Sep-2018 11:35 | harro | Updated [Location, Phase, Nature, Damage, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2018 11:36 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Location, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2018 11:44 | harro | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2018 11:48 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2018 12:53 | mxcollins | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 05-Sep-2018 15:24 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 05-Sep-2018 15:51 | HeliNews | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 05-Sep-2018 16:00 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 05-Sep-2018 17:31 | franka | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 05-Sep-2018 18:19 | HeliNews | Updated [Source] |
| 24-Sep-2021 19:40 | harro | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 09-Oct-2021 13:53 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 09-Oct-2021 14:02 | Aerossurance | Updated [Phase, Embed code] |
| 09-Nov-2022 01:04 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Embed code] |
| 22-Nov-2023 10:45 | harro | Updated [Other fatalities, Accident report] |
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