ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 318033
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| Date: | Sunday 6 July 1975 |
| Time: | 20:10 |
| Type: |  Hughes 369HS |
| Owner/operator: | Heli Belgium PVBA |
| Registration: | OO-VDH |
| MSN: | 320373 S |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Bachte-Maria-Leerne -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIU Belgium |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Helicopter was hired by a private person from Heli Belgium PVBA for a series of flights. On the day prior to the accident, the pilot completed a total of 13 short flights lasting a total of 2 hours 6 minutes.
On the day of the accident, the pilot departed without refuelling the aircraft first. The first flight lasted 54 minutes. Approximately 24 minutes into the second flight of the day, while carrying 3 passengers, the engine ceased due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot managed to make a successful auto-rotation landing in a field.
After touch-down with the engine still spooling down, while turning around to check on his passengers, the pilot accidentally touched the controls, causing the main rotor to hit the tail, severing it from the aircraft.
The accident investigation showed that the free movement of the fuel float in the main tank was hampered, either by the proximity of the fuel pump or of an electric wire, meaning the float would stick at a fixed measurement. Given the fuel float stuck at an indication of 110 lb of fuel in the tank, and the low fuel warning was set at 20 lb, the pilot had no indication of the true quantity of fuel in the tank, or that he was flying under a fuel emergency up to the point the fuel was exhausted.
The total quantity of fuel in the aircraft amounted for approximately 3 hours of flight. Inadequate planning by the pilot meant the aircraft took off on the second day with an insufficient quantity of fuel.
Additionally, the pilot was not rated for the Hughes 500, meaning he was not allowed to carry passengers.
CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT:
The accident resulted from an incorrect manipulation of the controls after an auto-rotation landing. The emergency landing in auto-rotation itself was the result of fuel exhaustion.
The erroneous indication of the quantity of fuel on the control panel was caused by the fuel float being stuck. It cannot be ascertained with certainty to what degree the float measured the fuel levels.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.helispot.be/hs/documents/ongevallen/oo-vdh-0.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Jul-2023 19:17 | Anon | Added |
| 15-Jul-2023 19:17 | harro | Updated |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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