Accident Aerospatiale AS 332L Super Puma G-BKZE,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 188751
 
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Date:Saturday 10 November 2001
Time:12:54
Type:Silhouette image of generic AS32 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Aerospatiale AS 332L Super Puma
Owner/operator:CHC Scotia
Registration: G-BKZE
MSN: 2102
Year of manufacture:1983
Engine model:Turbomeca Makila 1A
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:West Navion Drilling Vessel, West of Shetland -   United Kingdom
Phase: Landing
Nature:Offshore
Departure airport:Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ/EGPD)
Destination airport:West Navion Drilling Vessel, 100 nm west of Shetland Islands
Investigating agency: AAIB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
Substantially damaged 10-11-2001 in a landing accident on board the West Navion Drilling Vessel, inBlock 204/18b, 100 nautical mile west of the Shetland islands. The pilot was uninjured, the co-pilot sustained severe leg injuries. According to the AAIB:

"The aircraft had been contracted to transport ship's crew from Aberdeen to a drilling ship located about 80 miles to the west of the Shetland Isles. The ship was positioned to the north of a cold front lying between the north coast of Scotland and the West Coast of Norway.

The aircraft landed on the ship at 12:42 hours, with the captain as handling pilot, on a heading of 295 degrees. The captain remained on board the aircraft with the rotors running whilst the passengers disembarked and the co-pilot assisted with refuelling. At about 12:47 hours the ship's dynamic positioning system lost heading control and, unknown to the helicopter captain, the ship's heading started to drift slowly to the right.

As the ship's heading increased a list of approximately 1 degree to starboard developed and at 12:54 hours, with the aircraft heading now about 330 degrees, the aircraft toppled over to the right. As the main rotors impacted the deck they broke up and the co-pilot received a severe leg injury from flying debris."

Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "The main rotor blades had become fragmented as they struck the helideck when the aircraft rolled over. Pieces of blade debris were recovered from various parts of the ship, although much of it undoubtedly went overboard. The rotor head, blade cuffs and pitch change linkages had also suffered severe damage.

The tail rotor assembly, including the gearbox, had become detached and was found on the deck at the rear of the aircraft. Four of the five blades had suffered major damage as a result of contacting the deck. The aircraft was otherwise substantially intact, with no major structural damage immediately apparent.

However, crushing damage to the right side of the fuselage had extended to the right windscreen, resulting in a gap that had allowed fire-fighting foam to enter the cockpit. The fuel tanks had remained intact, although some minor seepage from the fuel vent lines occurred for several days following the accident."

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: AAIB
Report number: EW/C2001/11/1
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/s4-2001-as332l-g-bkze-10-november-2001
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/3-2004-eurocopter-as332l-super-puma-g-bkze-12-november-2001
https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/factor200429.pdf

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
19-Jul-2016 12:26 Dr.John Smith Added
19-Jul-2016 12:40 Dr.John Smith Updated [Date]
19-Jul-2016 13:22 Dr.John Smith Updated [Location]
08-Mar-2017 17:09 TB Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source]
18-Dec-2020 18:24 Aerossurance Updated [Location, Nature, Source, Narrative, Accident report]
21-Aug-2022 12:24 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type]
29-Mar-2024 14:46 Aerossurance Updated [Cn, Departure airport]

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