Loss of control Accident PZL-Swidnik SW-4 Puszczyk SP-SSW,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 141914
 
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Date:Sunday 15 January 2012
Time:14:23
Type:Silhouette image of generic PSW4 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
PZL-Swidnik SW-4 Puszczyk
Owner/operator:PZL-Swidnik
Registration: SP-SSW
MSN: 600401
Year of manufacture:2010
Total airframe hrs:242 hours
Engine model:Rolls-Royce 250 C20R
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Fairbanks International Airport - PAFA, AK -   United States of America
Phase: Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:Test
Departure airport:Fairbanks, AK (FAI)
Destination airport:Fairbanks, AK (FAI)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
During a hover test above the departure end of the runway, the flight test technician turned the hydraulics system off to simulate an in-flight hydraulic failure. During a series of prearranged hover maneuvers, the pilot began to hover the helicopter to the left, at which time, the cyclic and collective became very "stiff and ratchety," which was followed by a forward and left movement of the cyclic that the pilot was unable to physically overcome. The helicopter subsequently descended, the left skid struck the runway, and the helicopter rolled onto its left side, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, tail boom, and main rotor drive system. A postaccident examination revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable Cause: A loss of control during a simulated hydraulic emergency, which resulted in an inadvertent dynamic rollover from the which the pilot could not recover.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ANC12LA017
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
16-Jan-2012 05:51 gerard57 Added
17-Jan-2012 15:07 RobertMB Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
18-Jan-2012 00:11 RobertMB Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative]
26-Jan-2012 14:00 Geno Updated [Source, Narrative]
16-Jun-2013 14:45 TB Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
06-Jul-2013 15:41 Alpine Flight Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport]
21-Dec-2016 19:26 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
27-Nov-2017 17:52 ASN Update Bot Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
04-Oct-2020 08:36 harro Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Narrative]

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