ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 236
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| Date: | Friday 7 February 1997 |
| Time: | 13:50 |
| Type: |  Bell 47G-2 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | VH-JKR |
| MSN: | 2409 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 1km SE of Gawler, TAS -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Gawler, Tasmania |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The American pilot was engaged in an agricultural operation, spraying fungicide onto an eight acre potato crop. During a swath run he overflew one powerline, which was reasonably easy to see, but then descended into a second powerline in close proximity to the first. The main rotors impacted three high-voltage, high-tensile wires.
The wires then passed under the main rotor blades, wound around the mast and broke push-rods, rendering the helicopter uncontrollable. It crashed to the ground and burnt. The pilot had sprayed the same paddock eight days earlier and had flown over the same powerlines several times immediately before the accident.
The helicopter was destroyed by ground impact and post impact fire. The source of the fire was probably fuel escaping from fuel lines broken at ground impact and spilling onto the hot engine exhausts
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/24990/ASOR199700357.pdf
www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidents.asp?ACType=47
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Jan-2008 10:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 20-Oct-2011 14:57 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 07-Jun-2022 13:03 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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