Accident AgustaWestland AW139 EC-NEH,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226105
 
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Date:Wednesday 12 June 2019
Time:13:31 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic A139 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
AgustaWestland AW139
Owner/operator:Babcock MCS Spain
Registration: EC-NEH
MSN: 31579
Year of manufacture:2014
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Buenache de la Sierra, Albarracín (Teruel) -   Spain
Phase: En route
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Muchamiel Airport (LEMU)
Destination airport:Gijón-El Musel Heliport
Investigating agency: CIAIAC
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The AW139 helicopter, registration EC-NEH, operated by Babcock, with flight code INR221A, made a positioning flight from Muchamiel airport (Alicante) to the El Musel base (Gijón).
At 53 minutes of flight, stabilised in the route phase over Serranía de Cuenca, the helicopter flew exceeding the certification limits in both yaw and balance, reaching in three seconds a roll angle of -140° while producing yaw oscillations with consecutive variations of +54°/s, -31°/s and +70°/s and variations in the pitch angles between -12° and 21°. This loss of control resulted in the following:
- the detachment of two emergency windows, and
- the change of the power control of the two engines to manual, due to an overspeed condition of the turbines which was not recognized by the pilot, which led him to make an emergency landing, thinking that the engines had failed.

The pilot managed to stabilise the helicopter 11 seconds after the event and, for 46 seconds, made a controlled descent, with power, to a clear area where he performed a run-on landing. The pilot and occupant were unharmed.
The investigation has concluded that the probable cause of the accident of the EC-NEH helicopter was a loss of control in flight following the disconnection of the automatic flight system through the FTR (Force Trim Release) switches and the assumption of manual control by the pilot. The loss of control was probably due to the pilot's misperception of the helicopter’s actual attitude.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: CIAIAC
Report number: A-027/2019
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.europapress.es/castilla-lamancha/noticia-rescatan-piloto-helicoptero-buenache-sierra-cuenca-sufrir-accidente-albarracin-teruel-20190612184159.html
https://www.lne.es/gijon/2019/06/12/accidente-helicoptero-gijon/2487204.html
https://www.fomento.gob.es/organos-colegiados/ciaiac/investigacion/2019/a-027-2019
https://aerossurance.com/air-accidents-incidents/sar-aw139-loc-i-during-positioning-flight/


Media:

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
12-Jun-2019 19:10 Iceman 29 Added
12-Jun-2019 19:17 RobertMB Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Embed code, Narrative]
27-Jun-2019 10:00 Victor Updated [Narrative]
09-Jul-2019 16:19 Aerossurance Updated [Source]
25-Nov-2021 19:58 Aerossurance Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Damage, Narrative]
23-Jun-2023 19:51 harro Updated [[Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Damage, Narrative]]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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