ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 162556
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| Date: | Friday 29 November 2013 |
| Time: | 22:22 UTC |
| Type: |  Eurocopter EC 135T2+ |
| Owner/operator: | Bond Air Services opf. Police Scotland |
| Registration: | G-SPAO |
| MSN: | 0546 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2007 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Clutha Vaults Bar, Glasgow City -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Aerial patrol |
| Departure airport: | Glasgow City Heliport (EGEG) |
| Glasgow City Heliport (EGEG) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter departed Glasgow City Heliport (GCH) at 2044 hrs on 29 November 2013, in support of Police Scotland operations. On board were the pilot and two Police Observers. After their initial task, south of Glasgow City Centre, they completed four more tasks; one in Dalkeith, Midlothian, and three others to the east of Glasgow, before routing back towards the heliport. When the helicopter was about 2.7 nm from GCH, the right engine flamed out. Shortly afterwards, the left engine also flamed out. An autorotation, flare recovery and landing were not achieved and the helicopter descended at a high rate onto the roof of the Clutha Vaults Bar, which collapsed. The three occupants in the helicopter and seven people in the bar were fatally injured. Eleven others in the bar were seriously injured.
Fuel in the helicopter’s main fuel tank is pumped by two transfer pumps into a supply tank, which is divided into two cells. Each cell of the supply tank feeds its respective engine. During subsequent examination of the helicopter, 76 kg of fuel was recovered from the main fuel tank. However, the supply tank was found to have been empty at the time of impact. It was deduced from wreckage examination and testing that both fuel transfer pumps in the main tank had been selected off for a sustained period before the accident, leaving the fuel in the main tank, unusable. The low fuel 1 and low fuel 2 warning captions, and their associated audio attention-getters, had been triggered and acknowledged, after which, the flight had continued beyond the 10-minute period specified in the Pilot’s Checklist Emergency and Malfunction Procedures.
The helicopter was not required to have, and was not fitted with, flight recorders. However, data and recordings were recovered from non-volatile memory (NVM) in systems on board the helicopter, and radar, radio, police equipment and CCTV recordings were also examined.
During the investigation, the EC135’s fuel sensing, gauging and indication system, and the Caution Advisory Display and Warning Unit were thoroughly examined. This included tests resulting from an incident involving another EC135 T2+.
Despite extensive analysis of the limited evidence available, it was not possible to determine why both fuel transfer pumps in the main tank remained off during the latter part of the flight, why the helicopter did not land within the time specified following activation of the low fuel warnings and why a MAYDAY call was not received from the pilot. Also, it was not possible to establish why a more successful autorotation and landing was not achieved, albeit in particularly demanding circumstances.
The investigation identified the following causal factors:
1. 73 kg of usable fuel in the main tank became unusable as a result of the fuel transfer pumps being switched off for unknown reasons.
2. It was calculated that the helicopter did not land within the 10-minute period specified in the Pilot’s Checklist Emergency and Malfunction Procedures, following continuous activation of the low fuel warnings, for unknown reasons.
3. Both engines flamed out sequentially while the helicopter was airborne, as a result of fuel starvation, due to depletion of the supply tank contents.
4. A successful autorotation and landing was not achieved, for unknown reasons.
The investigation identified the following contributory factors:
1. Incorrect management of the fuel system allows useable fuel to remain in the main tank while the contents in the supply tank become depleted.
2. The RADALT and steerable landing light were unpowered after the second engine flamed out, leading to a loss of height information and reduced visual cues.
3. Both engines flamed out when the helicopter was flying over a built-up area.
Seven Safety Recommendations have been made.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/t/story/helicopter-crashes-roof-glasgow-pub-21053638?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/glasgow-police-helicopter-crash-live-2866925
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/breaking-news-police-helicopter-crashes-2866927
https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/528850-police-helicopter-crashes-onto-glasgow-pub.html
http://www.copfs.gov.uk/media-site/latest-news-from-copfs/579-clutha-helicopter-crash-investigation-process-explained
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport/clutha-draft-report-distributed-to-legal-teams-as-investigation-nears-end.124917319
https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/clutha-helicopter-crash-answers-within-days-1-3922159
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/clutha-police-heli-accident/
https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16892422.pilot-who-handed-over-helicopter-on-day-of-clutha-crash-represented-at-hearing/
AAIB ________________________________
http://www.caa.co.uk/applicationmodules/ginfo/ginfo_photo.aspx?regmark=G-SPAO&imgname=G-SPAO001&imgtype=jpg
http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=detail®mark=spa&dataindex=2
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/s9-2013-eurocopter-ec135-t2-g-spao-29-november-2013
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/s2-2014-eurocopter-ec135-t2-g-spao-29-november-2013
http://www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/G-SPAO%20Press%20Release%20v2.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aircraft-accident-report-aar-3-2015-g-spao-29-november-2013
Media:
The pilot who flew the helicopter and handed it over to Captain David Traill on the day it crashed in to the Clutha pub will be represented at the fatal accident inquiry.https://t.co/2p5bzeh2ox
— Planes Of Legend (@PlanesOfLegend) 20 septembre 2018
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Nov-2013 02:15 | Geno | Added |
| 30-Nov-2013 03:01 | angels one five | Updated [Registration, Operator, Location] |
| 30-Nov-2013 03:42 | JINX | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Damage] |
| 30-Nov-2013 10:30 | Captainpicasso | Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-Nov-2013 15:23 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Narrative] |
| 30-Nov-2013 16:01 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities] |
| 30-Nov-2013 16:12 | Anon. | Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source] |
| 30-Nov-2013 18:48 | Captainpicasso | Updated [Narrative] |
| 01-Dec-2013 15:45 | Anon. | Updated [Operator] |
| 02-Dec-2013 02:40 | JINX | Updated [Other fatalities] |
| 02-Dec-2013 07:23 | Anon. | Updated [Other fatalities] |
| 11-Dec-2013 15:53 | harro | Updated [Time, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 12-Dec-2013 18:40 | gerard57 | Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Sep-2014 16:31 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Sep-2014 09:40 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Sep-2014 09:41 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 28-Nov-2014 11:24 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 06-May-2015 11:22 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 21-May-2015 02:45 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 21-May-2015 02:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 21-May-2015 02:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport] |
| 20-Oct-2015 19:07 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 20-Oct-2015 19:12 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 20-Oct-2015 20:35 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Oct-2015 09:24 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Nov-2015 23:03 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 20-Sep-2018 19:09 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 13-Aug-2019 14:04 | Uli Elch | Updated [Location, Embed code] |
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