ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 181538
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| Date: | Saturday 21 November 2015 |
| Time: | 10:55 LT |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350BA Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Fox and Franz Heli Services |
| Registration: | ZK-HKU |
| MSN: | 1132 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1979 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Fox Glacier, Westland NP -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | near Fox Glacier town |
| near Fox Glacier town | |
| Investigating agency: | TAIC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft impacted into a crevasse on Fox Glacier. The helicopter was destroyed and the seven occupants (one pilot and 6 tourists) received fatal injuries. Weather has been a factor in the area and delayed the search.
The aircraft crashed nea the landing spot "The Chancelor".
The Commission also found that the weather conditions on the day were unstable and unsuitable for conducting a scenic flight. The localised weather conditions in the area were very likely to have been frequently below the minimum criteria required by the Civil Aviation Rules.
It is very likely that when the helicopter took off from Chancellor Shelf and descended down the valley, the pilot’s perception of the helicopter’s height above the terrain was affected by one or more of the following conditions:
- cloud
- precipitation
- flat light conditions
- condensation on the helicopter’s front windscreen.
The Commission found that the pilot had not been properly trained and did not have the appropriate level of experience expected under the operator’s categorisation scheme for a senior pilot in this type of operation. The operator’s system for training its pilots was ill-defined and did not comply fully with the Civil Aviation Rules.
The operator’s training system did not have sufficient oversight by the designated senior persons, and this was a factor that allowed the pilot to be assigned roles and responsibilities without the proper training and experience.
The Commission found that the Civil Aviation Authority had identified significant non-compliance issues with the operator’s training system and managerial oversight that had warranted intervention long before this accident occurred.
The Commission identified two safety issues:
- the operator’s system for training its pilots did not comply fully with the requirements of the Civil Aviation Rules or the operator’s approved operations specifications, and did not adequately prepare the pilot for the role and responsibilities required for flight operations that day
- the operator had been allowed to continue providing helicopter air operations with little or no intervention from the Civil Aviation Authority, in spite of the Authority having identified significant non-compliances with the operator’s training system and managerial oversight.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/74272467/helicopter-crash-on-fox-glacier-seven-on-board
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/21/helicopter-carrying-seven-people-crashes-on-fox-glacier-in-new-zealand
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/290226/seven-dead-in-fox-glacier-crash
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11549101
https://www.scenic-flights.co.nz/faq.html
https://www.caa.govt.nz/Script/AirReg1.asp?Class=Helo
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/290364/helicopter-crashed-near-landing-site
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/305206/alpine-adventures-choppers-grounded
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12232140
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12232517
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/fatal-nzcaa-as350-failure-taic/
https://taic.org.nz/inquiry/ao-2015-007
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 21 July 1990 | N3598F | Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. | 0 | Berwick, LA |  |
sub |
| 10 February 2000 | ZK-HKV | Marine Helicopters Ltd. | 1 | Tapora, Northland | |
w/o |
Location
Images:
Media:
#OTD in 2015: Regulator Missed the Chance to Intervene Before Fatal Tour Accident say TAIC https://t.co/310hxExFIW #helicopter #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety pic.twitter.com/hiheY63Pdf
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) November 21, 2020
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Nov-2015 04:34 | Geno | Added |
| 21-Nov-2015 04:46 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Source] |
| 21-Nov-2015 04:52 | Geno | Updated [Narrative] |
| 21-Nov-2015 04:56 | Geno | Updated [Date] |
| 21-Nov-2015 16:08 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Nature, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 24-Nov-2015 05:19 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 25-Nov-2015 12:58 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Phase, Source] |
| 26-Nov-2015 07:55 | Anon. | Updated [Source] |
| 30-May-2016 08:36 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 20-May-2019 10:12 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 20-May-2019 10:33 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 23-May-2019 05:33 | Aerossurance | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 23-May-2019 05:34 | harro | Updated [Operator, Nature, Accident report, ] |
| 21-Jun-2019 16:18 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 08-Aug-2020 03:09 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 21-Nov-2020 11:20 | Aerossurance | Updated [Phase, Embed code, Accident report] |
| 01-Feb-2022 10:11 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Embed code] |
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