Accident Eurocopter EC145 F-MJBB,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 187452
 
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Date:Friday 20 May 2016
Time:12:10 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic EC45 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Eurocopter EC145
Owner/operator:Gendarmerie
Registration: F-MJBB
MSN: 9014
Fatalities:Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Vignemale, Cauterets, Hautes-Pyrénées 65 -   France
Phase: Take off
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Tarbes/Laloubere Airfield (LFDT)
Destination airport:Tarbes/Laloubere Airfield (LFDT)
Investigating agency: BEAD
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
Helicopter "Choucas 65" from the Tarbes unit of the para-military Gendarmerie Nationale hit a mountain wall during rescue training. The pilot, rear crewman and 2 mountain rescuers who had just been picked up were killed.

The causes of this accident are:
- the imprecise representation of the relief before the take-off which leads the pilot to realize a take-off with low height in the corridor of Gaube;
- the feeling of control of the situation by the pilot bound to the experience and the expertise of the high mountain;
- the repetition of the rotations which ends in the installation of routines which lead the pilot to realize a fast take-off;
- a combination of defects of attention (focus of the attention on the left wall, the attention concerned the future trajectory) and of difficulties of perception (low visibility of the low projection of the Squared Hook, the approximate perception of the distances and the diameter rotor, masking by an amount of the cockpit, snows on the windscreen) which limits the capacity of the pilot to lead a corrective action.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: BEAD
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.lci.fr/france/hautes-pyrenees-crash-dun-helicoptere-de-la-gendarmerie-le-bilan-de-4-morts-confirme-1154837.html
https://www.sudouest.fr/2016/05/20/un-helicoptere-de-la-gendarmerie-s-ecrase-dans-les-hautes-pyrenees-quatre-morts-2369705-4344.php
https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2016/05/21/2349044-quatre-gendarmes-tues-dans-le-crash-de-l-helico.html

BEAD final report: https://archives.defense.gouv.fr/content/download/516647/8689246/Rapport%20G-2016-008-A.pdf

Images:




Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
20-May-2016 12:32 Iceman 29 Added
20-May-2016 12:33 harro Updated [Aircraft type]
20-May-2016 12:47 Iceman 29 Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Source, Narrative]
20-May-2016 13:14 Iceman 29 Updated [Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Embed code, Narrative, Photo, ]
20-May-2016 17:28 CTYONE Updated [Registration, Departure airport, Destination airport, Embed code]
20-May-2016 18:50 TB Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
21-May-2016 15:45 Aerossurance Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative]
21-May-2016 17:53 TB Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
21-May-2016 19:21 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
21-May-2016 19:21 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type]
22-May-2016 06:56 Anon. Updated [Registration, Cn]
22-May-2016 18:47 TB Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
22-Sep-2016 08:19 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type]
22-Sep-2016 08:20 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type]
22-Sep-2016 08:23 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type]
22-Sep-2016 08:23 Aerossurance Updated [Operator]
12-Oct-2016 18:01 TB Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Embed code]
03-Mar-2017 20:08 Anon. Updated [Registration, Cn]
13-Sep-2017 08:40 harro Updated [Source]
20-Nov-2017 20:31 Iceman 29 Updated [Source, Narrative, Photo, ]
07-Jan-2018 13:18 Aerossurance Updated [Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative]
09-Jun-2022 07:55 Ron Averes Updated [Location]

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