ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 273410
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| Date: | Thursday 18 March 2004 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Robinson R22 Beta |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZS-RHF |
| MSN: | 2371 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1993 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Farm in the Naboomspruit area -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | |
| Nature: | |
| Departure airport: | Farm in the Naboomspruit area |
| Farm in the Naboomspruit area | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft was refuelled to capacity prior to the pilot's departure on a flight from Polokwane en route to Wonderboom with a scheduled landing at a farm in the Naboomspruit area to discuss business. The flight from Polokwane to the farm was uneventful with all engine parameters indicating normal. After conducting a flight around the farm, the pilot decided to uplift fuel before flying to Wonderboom. According to the pilot, shortly after lift off, the helicopter felt low on power with the RPM decaying to the lower half of the green arc on the instrument gauge. At a height of approximately 100-150 feet AGL the engine spluttered and failed whilst established over bush type terrain. The pilot immediately initiated autorotative flight at an indicated airspeed of s?50mph. Action to avoid trees resulted in a rapid loss of height. On clearing the trees, the aircraft was too close to the ground to flare and contact with the ground took place in a level attitude with full collective pitch applied. The low rotor RPM light illuminated on the instrument panel and the audio warning sounded when the aircraft was approximately 15ft AGL (an indication that rotor RPM had decayed to below 97%). According to the pilot, ground impact did not feel excessively heavy, with the left skid touching first followed by a bounce with the right skid digging into the soft ground, resulting in a roll-over to the right. Apart from a minor skin burn to the pilot's hand no other injuries were sustained. PROBABLE CAUSE: The engine failed as a result of fuel starvation, which was most probably caused by the presence of a vacuum that formed within the main fuel tank as a result of the blockage of the main fuel tank vent as well as the interconnecting tank vent.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
S.A. CAA
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 11 August 2002 | ZS-RHF | 0 | Lanseria International Airport (HLA/FALA) | |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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