ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 181536
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| Date: | Wednesday 24 July 1985 |
| Time: | 15:45 |
| Type: |  Westland Bell 47G-3B1 |
| Owner/operator: | Helicrops Ltd |
| Registration: | G-SMRI |
| MSN: | WA408 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Field near the A59, Maghull, 6 miles North of Liverpool -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Maghull, Liverpool |
| Maghull, Liverpool | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Built by Westland for the Army Air Corps as Sioux AH.1 XT249. Sold off for civilian use and civil registered as G-BHBV on 1/11/1979 to Heliwork Ltd. Thruxton, Hampshire. Sold on 12/5/1980 to Helicrops Ltd, Hook Norton, Oxfordshire. Re-registered by them as G-SMRI from 11/1/1983
Written off (damaged beyond repair) 24/7/1985 when crashed into a field near the A59 at Maghull, 6 miles north of Liverpool. Aircraft hit overhead power line whilst crop spraying, and sustained substantial damage. According to the following extract from the official AAIB report into the accident:
"The helicopter had been loaded with 60 gallons of a liquid fungicide, located in a centrally mounted hopper between the landing skids. The pilots intentions were to spray a rectangular shaped field of potatoes. The pilot had been provided with a map of the field and the surrounding area, which showed that the A59 road ran alongside the left hand side of the field, and overhead power lines ran along the right hand side
As the pilot lined up for the first spray run, which was along the side of the field nearest to the A59 road, he became aware of heavy traffic using the road, and so aborted the run, and turned to the right to re-position the helicopter, for a run where there was a gap in the traffic
The pilots attention was on the traffic as he turned back towards the field, when the tail rotor struck the overhead wires on the right hand side of the field. The tail rotor and its associated drive failed immediately; the helicopter gyrated rapidly, and descended to make a heavy landing on level ground in the field. The pilot was unhurt, and the fuel tanks and hopper of fungicide remained intact."
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "tail rotor destroyed by wire strike, airframe substantially damaged by heavy landing". Some sources report that G-SMRI was written off as "damaged beyond economical repair" as a result of this accident. However, the official CAA record notes that G-SMRI was cancelled on 11/7/1986 (almost one year later) as "Transferred to another country or authority > GERMANY". Since no German registration has been linked to this aircraft, it is presumed that it was sent to Germany for spares/parts recovery.
NOTE: The aircraft had two official constructors numbers. In military service with the Army Air Corps the c/no was "WA408". However, after conversion in civilian life to a Westland Bell 47G-3B1 Soloy Turbine version, the c/no was changed to "WAS-216" (which is the c/no on the CAA registration document)
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB; https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422f5d9ed915d13710005b1/Westland_Bell_47G.3B1_Soloy_G-SMRI_08-85.pdf
2. CAA: http://www.caa.co.uk/aircraft-registration/
3. http://www.ukserials.com/prodlists.php?type=1458
4. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=14504
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Nov-2015 21:36 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 20-Nov-2015 21:42 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 20-Nov-2015 21:45 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 20-Nov-2015 21:47 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 20-Nov-2015 21:50 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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