ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 218934
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: | Friday 29 July 1988 |
| Time: | 11:13 |
| Type: |  Aerospatiale AS 350B |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | VH-AFO |
| MSN: | 1105 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Grass Tree Hill, TAS -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | Grass Tree Hill, TAS |
| Grass Tree Hill, TAS | |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot and the helicopter were involved in a training exercise for trainee fireman. The task was to teach safety around helicopters, especially relating to fire fighting activities. The State Fire Commission provided new sling equipment, purchased from a ship chandler. Experienced fire fighting personnel had prepared several sling loads in advance for the pilot. The strop chosen to lift the 500kg water bladder was 20 metres long. The purpose of the long strop was to enable the helicopter to lower the water bladder to firemen working in low scrub. The strop had been assembled by passing each end of the rope around a metal eyelet and whipping it because the polyester rope was not suitable for splicing. Visually the whipped ends looked satisfactory.
The helicopter lifted the load to about 150 feet above the ground and was accelerating through about 20 knots when the pilot heard a loud bang, felt a vibration through the airframe and realised that the load had detached from the helicopter. He made a precautionary landing nearby. The rope of the strop had slipped through the whipped section at the eyelet where it attached to the water bladder with a shackle. The rope had recoiled, damaged one of the three main rotor blades, ripped the right hand horizontal stabilizer and wrapped around the tail boom.
The known safe working load limits for the individual items comprising the strop were more than adequate for the intended sling loads. The new strop had never been proof tested; nor was there any indication that the helicopter company or the Fire Commission had instructed the manufacturer to proof test the strops.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1988/aair/aair198801393/
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/27140/aair198801393.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Dec-2018 09:17 | Pineapple | Added |
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