ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 280943
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| Date: | Monday 30 September 1991 |
| Time: | 14:05 LT |
| Type: |  Enstrom F-280FX |
| Owner/operator: | Southern Air Ltd |
| Registration: | G-BSIE |
| MSN: | 2052 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Thruxton Airfield, Andover, Hampshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Thruxton Airfield (EGHO) |
| Thruxton Airfield (EGHO) |
Enstrom F-280FX G-BSIE: Substantially damaged in a forced landing at Thruxton Airfield, Andover, Hampshire
On the afternoon of 30 September 1991 Enstrom 280 G-BSIE was being flown locally out of Thruxton Airfield when the helicopter started to vibrate. The vibration increased hugely, followed by a loud report. The Enstrom yawed to starboard and when its pilot sought to counteract this, he found the yaw pedals jammed. However using the engine to control the yaw he was able to autorotate to make a forced landing in a field. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured but when they vacated the Enstrom, they saw that the tail rotor gearbox had split into two and the aft part had moved back, taking the tail rotor out of gear and damaging the tail rotor guard and control cables.
The cause was metal fatigue of the tail rotor spindle, which fractured and threw the tail rotor out of balance, causing it to rotate eccentrically, and this led to the secondary failure of the gear box. The fatigue was not stress induced but had been occurring over a long period of time. The nature of the problem had been identified by the manufacturer over three years earlier, when it issued a service directive bulletin, but it had not led to action being taken by the CAA or the FAA.
Four days after the incident involving G-BSIE (which had previously been subjected, with a negative result, to examination and testing in consequence of the manufacturer's service directive bulletin) the AAIB made a recommendation to the CAA for an urgent mandatory examination of the tail rotor spindle of all helicopters of this type, which resulted in an emergency airworthiness directive being issued by the CAA four days later.
G-BSIE was repaired, and still flies in 2022, although it has been re-registered several times:
HA-MIN (Hungarian registry) January 1990 to 17 May 1990
G-BSIE 17 May 1990 to 22 February 2000
G-ZZWW 22 February 2000 to 10 May 2005
G-IBWF 10 May 2005 to 5 April 2006
G-MHCM 6 April 2006 to date (last re-registered 2 July 2021)
Sources:
1. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422f932e5274a131700076f/Enstrom_280FX__G-BSIE_01-92.pdf
2. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=18555.0
3. http://www.rotorspot.nl/product/280.php
4. as HA-MIN: https://www-avia--info-hu.translate.goog/kep.php?KeresettSzo=HA-MIN&Sorszam=1&_x_tr_sl=hu&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
Media:
Enstrom F-280FX G-MHCM (ex-G-BSIE and several other registrations!)at the LAA Rally, Sywell, Northamptonshire, 4/9/2021:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Jul-2022 13:09 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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