ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 198360
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| Date: | Tuesday 15 August 2017 |
| Time: | 15:05 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | VH-HBV |
| MSN: | 0052 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1994 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Julatten, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Mossman, QLD |
| Julatten, QLD | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 15 August 2017, the pilot of a Robinson R44 helicopter, registered VH-HBV, conducted a private ferry flight from Cooktown to Mossman, Queensland, Australlia. After refuelling in Mossman, the helicopter departed for a short ferry flight to Julatten, Queensland. The pilot was the sole occupant of the helicopter.
The helicopter approached the landing site in a northerly direction. The pilot conducted an orbit at about 300–500 ft above the site to assess the conditions and then commenced the approach.
Just prior to touchdown, the pilot pulled back on the cyclic. As a result, the tail rotor struck the ground behind the helicopter. The pilot felt the tail contact the ground through the airframe and pedals. The helicopter shuddered violently and yawed rapidly to the right.
As the helicopter completed a 360 degree turn with the skids about 3–5 ft above the ground, the pilot lowered the collective in an attempt to land on the helipad. The helicopter was still yawing as the skids contacted the helipad. It rolled over, the main rotor blades struck the ground and the helicopter came to rest on its left side.
The pilot was uninjured and the helicopter sustained substantial damage
Findings
- The pilot applied aft cyclic just prior to touchdown, resulting in a tail-low attitude.
- The ground sloped downwards away from the landing pad and as a result, the tail stinger did not protect the tail rotor from ground contact.
- The tail rotor struck the ground and detached, resulting in the helicopter yawing rapidly to the right. The pilot did not roll off throttle to reduce the yaw rate prior to lowering the collective, which probably led to the helicopter rolling over as the skids contacted the ground.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/cairns/helicopter-pilot-lucky-to-survive-robinson-44-crash-near-julatten/news-story/20d234cdd1c5924b4ea7594f814dae91
www.power100.com.au
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2017/aair/ao-2017-083/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Aug-2017 10:21 | Petropavlovsk | Added |
| 15-Aug-2017 13:33 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location] |
| 15-Aug-2017 13:34 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location] |
| 15-Aug-2017 16:50 | gerard57 | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Aug-2017 06:56 | Pineapple | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage] |
| 22-Mar-2018 10:05 | harro | Updated [Nature, Departure airport, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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