Incident Robinson R22 VH-NWJ,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 219973
 
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Date:Thursday 27 July 1989
Time:07:45
Type:Silhouette image of generic R22 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Robinson R22
Owner/operator:
Registration: VH-NWJ
MSN: 322
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Location:10km S of Mareeba, QLD -   Australia
Phase: Landing
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Mareeba, QLD
Destination airport:Lyndhurst Station, QLD
Investigating agency: BASI
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
For the ferry flight, the pilot placed an overnight bag on the passenger seat, leaned a swag and fuel pump against the seat and secured the lot with the seat belt. His pre-flight control checks revealed that full control travel was available for the collective and cyclic controls. During the climb the swag slipped and came to rest against the cyclic control. At this stage it was not causing any control interference. The pilot intended to fly past the lee side of a mountain and found that the swag was now restricting movement of the cyclic pitch control. The seat belt was unfastened to reposition the swag. At the same time, the helicopter encountered some turbulence. The swag fell onto the collective pitch control lever, pushing it nearly all the way down. The helicopter descended out of control with both the cyclic and collective controls fouled. The pilot managed to regain partial control just before impact and, following the heavy landing, rolled the helicopter into a steeply sloping rock face. The pilot commented later that the critical point in the scenario was reached when he unlatched the seat belt to fix an annoying, but not serious problem at an inappropriate time. This accident was not the subject of a formal on scene investigation.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: BASI
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1989/aair/aair198903794/
https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/29392/aair198903794.pdf

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
24-Dec-2018 02:44 Pineapple Added

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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