ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 193980
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| Date: | Sunday 5 March 2017 |
| Time: | 13:41 LT |
| Type: |  Bell 412EP |
| Owner/operator: | Nagano Air Rescue Team |
| Registration: | JA97NA |
| MSN: | 36135 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1996 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Mt Hachibuse, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture -
 Japan
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ambulance |
| Departure airport: | Matsumoto Airport (MMJ/RJAF) |
| Takabocchi temporary operation site | |
| Investigating agency: | JTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A rescue helicopter of Air Rescue Team, Nagano prefecture, named 'Alps', was found to be crashed up-side-down on the snow at Mt. Hachibuse (accident site altitude 1700m ASL: peak 1929m ASL). The tail section was separated from the fuselage, and all four main rotor were torn off to pieces. The tail rotor was missing as of 7 March. All nine on board received fatal injuries. Alps took off from Matsumoto Airport at 13:33 LT for a rescue training flight in the winter mountain region at Takabocchi highland, however, the radio contact with the ground operation site was lost at 13:45 LT. According to the flight plan, the helicopter should have arrived at Takabocchi temporary operation site by 13:53 LT, but failed to reach. There was one pilot, a mechanic and 7 firemen on board. Three bodies were recovered, and two persons were found in the wreckage with unconsciously injured in the accident day. Remaining four were found next day, and all nine on board were confirmed to be dead. The pilot, 56 years old, had great experience in rescue operations in mountain region, with 5100 hours of flight time. The immediate cause of his death was damage on his heart and aorta, according to the autopsy, however, it is uncertain if it was a result of the crash or the disease in flight. The accident helicopter had just passed a check done by every 300 flight hours at the end of February. Though the Bell did not equipped black boxes, a movie (without sound) shows the scene from takeoff to the crash was recorded by the CCD video camera on the helmet of a fireman who was located right back of the cabin (without seats). This movie shows uneventful scene almost whole of the flight, but it was followed by a sudden descent in the several seconds at the end of the movie. Several traces of contact by the main rotor were found on the Japanese larch trees which located 100m from the crash site.
The weather data at Matsumoto Airport at the time of the accident (14:00 LT/05:00 UTC):
RJAF 050400Z 36004KT 300V070 9999 FEW060 BKN/// 12/M02 Q1010
RJAF 050500Z 35009KT 9999 FEW060 BKN/// 13/M03 Q1009
RJAF 050600Z 34010KT 9999 FEW070 BKN/// 12/M02 Q1009
Probable Causes from JTSB report:
It is highly probable that this accident occurred because while flying over the mountains, any avoidance maneuver was not taken even though the helicopter was getting close to the ground, resulting in the collision with trees and the crash.
It is somewhat likely that any avoidance maneuver was not taken even though the helicopter was getting closer to the ground because the captain’s arousal level was reduced and could not recognize the dangerous situation, however it was not possible to clarify whether he actually fell into such a state
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://web.archive.org/web/20170305083508/http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20170305/k10010899521000.html
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/videonews/ann?a=20170305-00000019-ann-soci
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/hl?a=20170305-00000032-asahi-soci
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/hl?a=20170305-00000024-mai-soci
http://web.archive.org/web/20170308160157/http://www3.nhk.or.jp:80/news/html/20170305/k10010899651000.htmlutm_int=news-social_contents_list-items_001
http://web.archive.org/web/20170308024422/http://www.news24.jp:80/articles/2017/03/05/07355714.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20170307184948/http://news.tbs.co.jp:80/newseye/tbs_newseye2998260.html
https://au.news.yahoo.com/helicopter-with-nine-aboard-crashes-in-japan-34567585.html
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/hl?a=20170306-00000043-mai-soci
http://web.archive.org/web/20170310204728/http://www3.nhk.or.jp:80/news/html/20170306/k10010900381000.htmlutm_int=word_contents_list-items_001&word_result=%E9%95%B7%E9%87%8E%E7%9C%8C%E9%98%B2%E7%81%BD%E3%83%98%E3%83%AA%E5%A2%9C%E8%90%BD
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/hl?a=20170306-00008336-houdouk-soci
http://web.archive.org/web/20170308175715/http://www3.nhk.or.jp:80/news/html/20170306/k10010900861000.htmlutm_int=news-social_contents_list-items_002
http://jtsb.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/aircraft/detail2.php?id=2174
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/hl?a=20170307-00000529-san-soci
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp:443/hl?a=20170308-00000007-mai-soci
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/b412-fatal-cfit-jp/
http://www.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/eng-air_report/JA97NA.pdf
Images:
JA97NA in April 2010 (Photo:contri / CC:by-sa)
Media:
#OTD 2017: Distractions and fatigue were involved in a CFIT in Japan in which 9 rescuers died. https://t.co/lDVHqvlIBg #helicopter #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety pic.twitter.com/2mOLXvzkwV
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) March 5, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Mar-2017 08:33 | isamuel | Added |
| 05-Mar-2017 10:39 | isamuel | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 05-Mar-2017 10:41 | harro | Updated [Photo, ] |
| 05-Mar-2017 10:57 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 05-Mar-2017 10:58 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 05-Mar-2017 11:29 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Narrative, Photo, ] |
| 06-Mar-2017 09:28 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Mar-2017 09:28 | isamuel | Updated [Total fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Mar-2017 11:30 | isamuel | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Mar-2017 08:27 | isamuel | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Mar-2017 06:26 | isamuel | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Dec-2018 20:45 | harro | Updated [Time, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 05-Mar-2019 05:34 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 05-Mar-2021 08:07 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Nature, Embed code] |
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