ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 186282
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Sunday 8 September 1991 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Type: |  Robinson R-22 Beta |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | G-BSHF |
| MSN: | 1382 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Welford-on-Avon, Warwickshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Wellesbourne Mountford, Warwickshire (EGBW) |
| Long Marston, Warwickshire (EGBL) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On September 8, 1991, about 1600 local time, a Robinson R-22 Beta helicopter, registered G-BSHF, broke apart during a practice flight about 1,500 feet agl, over the village of Weston-on-Avon. Witnesses reported observing the helicopter in straight-and-level flight traveling southwest when it began to yaw suddenly to the right and left.
A loud noise like a bang or pop followed, and the helicopter was observed to pitch nose-down as the tail rotor assembly and sections of the tail boom separated from the helicopter. The witnesses said they then observed the helicopter's main rotor blades flailing and one of the blades separated as the helicopter entered a vertical dive and crashed to the ground. The pilot was killed, and the helicopter was destroyed.
The pilot held commercial pilot licenses for both fixed wing and helicopter, and a flight instructor's certificate. His flight experience was 2,473 total flight hours, 275 of which were in helicopters and 2 in the R-22. The main wreckage (cockpit, skid assembly, and engine) came to rest upright on level ground. The tail boom and one main rotor blade had separated from the fuselage, and the rotor blade and tail boom pieces were located 200 meters north of the main wreckage.
Examination of the wreckage on site and later at the AAIB facility at Farnborough, did not reveal any pre-impact defects in the structure, flight controls, engine, or transmission. The droop stops were distorted due to the downward bending of the main rotor blades. Several strikes to the tail-boom by a main rotor blade were evident. The initial strike was in the region of the warning arrows and "DANGER" decal at the rear of the tail-boom.
Subsequent high energy strikes had also occurred with the blade contacting the tailboom at about a 45 degree angle forward of the initial strike. There was also evidence of a main rotor blade strike to the left side of the cabin area.
The AAIB could find no evidence of the specific event that caused or allowed the main rotor blades to diverge from their normal flight path plane and strike the airframe.
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "aircraft destroyed". As a result, the registration G-BSHF was cancelled by the CAA on 15-1-1992 as "destroyed"
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB: https://assets.digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk/media/5422eb6eed915d1371000071/Robinson_R22_Beta__G-BSHF_12-91.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=BSHF
3. http://www.rotorshop.com/sir9603.pdf
4. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidents.aspx?ACType=R22
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Apr-2016 18:47 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 08-Apr-2016 18:48 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 25-May-2016 13:33 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation