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Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative: The crew of the Ambulance helicopter "Martin 4", based at Matrei / Tyrolia, was called in to airlift a 54 year old tourist with heart problems from a lodge near Austria´s highest peak, mount "Großglockner", to a hospital in the valley.
After an uneventful flight up to the mountain, the patient was put into the helicopter. During the take-off attempt in "hot and high" conditions, the pilot stated, that he was hit by a gust of wind. The MD 902 started spinning, hit the ground on the skids and suffered a dynamic rollover onto it´s right hand side.
All five main rotor blades sheared off, and the wreckage luckily came to rest just a few feet from a steep cliff. This precipice steeply down-slopes several hundred meters.
The accident site is located next to the lodge "Erzherzog-Johann-Huette at "Adlersruhe"-ridge, which is at an altitude of 3454 metres MSL (11630 feet MSL) , the accident day was the hottest day of the year so far.
The mountain climber with the heart problems was transported by another rescue helicopter, the doctor of the crashed "Explorer" was the only one hurt on board, he suffered from a fractured nose.
Probable causes Loss of yaw control around the vertical axis during take-off and in ground effect (IGE)
Likely factors - Operation of the helicopter close to the limit of aerodynamic controllability around the vertical axis. - Lack of potential landing sites near the Erzherzog-Johann lodge to fully touch down the helicopter. - Aerodynamic peculiarity of the NOTAR system and therefore different behavior in ground effect compared to helicopters with a conventional tail rotor. - Although properly certified by the civil aviation authorities, information regarding operating limits in the flight manual may be misinterpreted by pilots due to the way they are presented