ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 347478
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| Date: | Monday 21 August 2023 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Aerospatiale AS 350B2 Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | AFOCELCA |
| Registration: | D-HAUR |
| MSN: | 2394 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Unknown |
| Location: | near Portimão -
 Portugal
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | LPPB |
| Coimbra Airport (CBP/LPCO) | |
| Investigating agency: | GPIAAF |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The AS350B2 helicopter, registered D-HAUR, in service on behalf of AFOCELCA, took off from Baltar towards Portimão, with a planned one-hour stop at Coimbra Aerodrome (LPCO).
Upon arriving at the Coimbra area, the pilot found that the airfield was covered by low clouds, opting to make a vertical fly-by at about 1200ft AGL in descent towards the South. After descending to 500ft AGL at a lower elevation zone south of the airfield and with the terrain in sight, the pilot attempted an approach to the airfield from the South without success, as the combination of the runway elevation with the fog position did not allow to obtain the necessary visual cues for landing.
On this approach while climbing to 1500ft, having already decided to return to Baltar, by passing again abeam the airfield, the pilot was able to see the runway through an opening in the fog and started a turn by the right downhill with a high vertical speed to maintain the visual conditions.
During the descent, the pilot was caught by surprise when he inadvertently entered into clouds, transitioning to instrument flight, he applied power to reduce the rate of descent, and leveled the helicopter to initiate the recovery and ascent.
Before he could recover from the descent, he came out of the clouds already very close to the ground with the surface in sight and without being able to stop the descent, checking only that the attitude of the helicopter was leveled. The aircraft ended up striking its skids into the runway surface with violence.There were no injuries. The helicopter suffered damage (permanent deformation) to the skids.
Sources:
GPIAAF
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 10 December 1991 | HB-XUY | Tui Air AG | 0 | Amlikon, TG |  |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Nov-2023 10:29 | harro | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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