ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 122452
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| Date: | Monday 16 May 2011 |
| Time: | 14:43 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 Raven I |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-GDOV |
| MSN: | 1503 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2005 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-540-F1B5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Gidleigh Park Hotel, near Chagford, Devon -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | |
| Gidleigh Park Hotel, near Chagford, Devon | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 16-05-2011 when crashed in the grounds of the Gidleigh Park Hotel, near Chagford, Devon: Whilst attempting to hover to an adjacent landing position at a private landing site, the helicopter veered to the left where it struck a tree and rolled over. According to the following excerpt from the official AAIB report into the accident:
" The pilot made a local flight to land in the grounds of a hotel, which did not have a helipad. Helicopters had previously landed in a large, tree-bounded grass field located to the east of the property. Part of this field was used as a sports area and at the western side of the field was an intersecting gravel path. Further to the west of the gravel path was a smaller grassed clearing bounded on the opposite side by a riverbed.
The pilot had not landed at the hotel before and about ten days prior to the accident had spoken with hotel staff about landing information. The pilot stated that he had been advised to land on the grass either to the east or west of the gravel path.
The flight was uneventful but during touchdown the pilot and passenger felt a bump and heard a noise. The pilot commented that the touchdown had been gentle and in a level attitude but he had become concerned and so decided to re-position the helicopter. However, as he lifted into the hover, the helicopter started to rock from side to side. It then veered to the left where it struck a tree before rolling onto its right side. The pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries and exited the helicopter through the front canopy, which had broken.
The helicopter was damaged beyond economic repair. Subsequent inspection by the pilot identified that there were a number of small rocks near to where he had touched down and he later stated that he thought the grass in that area “was at least 10 inches long”. He considered that that he may have struck one of the rocks with a skid during the re-positioning manoeuvre."
Aircraft written off (damaged beyond repair) and registration G-GDOV cancelled by the CAA as aircraft "destroyed" 28/11/2011. On 19 May 2011, the wreckage of G-GDOV was photographed arriving at Fairoaks, Surrey, on the back of a flatbed trailer (see link #9)
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ec97ed915d137400011d/Robinson_R44_Raven__G-GDOV_08-11_v2.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-13417435
4. https://www.devonlive.com/hotel-owner-admits-m-lucky-alive-helicopter-crash/story-12110906-detail/story.html
5. https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/451782-helicopter-down-chagford-devon-uk.html
6. https://www.devonlive.com/helicopter-crash-email-lost/story-13288866-detail/story.html
7. http://fire.org.uk/news/2011/05/16/helicopter-crash-lands-in-grounds-of-devon-hotel.html
8. http://helihub.com/2011/05/16/16-may-11-chagford-uk/
9. Robinson R44 Wreck at Fairoaks 19th May 2011: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aircraftregister/5737149434
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-May-2011 15:33 | gerard57 | Added |
| 23-May-2011 06:58 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 23-May-2011 07:00 | gerard57 | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 24-May-2011 03:15 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Aug-2011 13:39 | harro | Updated [Time, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Sep-2012 15:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 30-Nov-2016 14:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 30-Nov-2016 14:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Source] |
| 30-Nov-2016 14:48 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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