Bird strike Serious incident Airbus Helicopters H125 (AS 350B3e) F-HJSC,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 238941
 
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Date:Wednesday 22 July 2020
Time:15:25 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic AS50 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Airbus Helicopters H125 (AS 350B3e)
Owner/operator:Société LEI MOA
Registration: F-HJSC
MSN: 8755
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage: Minor
Category:Serious incident
Location:Nîmes-Garons Airport, Gard 30 -   France
Phase: Approach
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Annecy-Mont Blanc Airport (NCY/LFLP)
Destination airport:Nîmes-Garons Airport (FNI/LFTW)
Investigating agency: BEA
Confidence Rating: Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities
Narrative:
The helicopter took off from Annecy Airport, France, with four passengers for a private flight to Dieulefit where one of the passengers was dropped off. The flight continued to Nîmes-Garons Airport.
Passing 1100 ft on the descent, about 5 NM northeast of Nîmes-Garons, the helicopter struck a bird that broke the canopy. The passenger sitting in the front left seat was injured and bleeding heavily. The bird probably hit him in the chest and splinters from the canopy caused head injuries. The pilot was not injured.
After the impact on the rear wall, the bird fell back on the controls.
The pilot monitored the engine parameters which remained nominal. He declared an emergency to the Nîmes controller and requested assistance on arrival.
The pilot was cleared to land on runway 18 by the controller. In order to minimize the time for the passenger to be picked up by the emergency services, he informed the controller that he planned to land directly on parking position P5. The landing took place without any problems and the passenger was evacuated.

The bird was identified as a red kite (0.8-1.3 kg)

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: BEA
Report number: BEA2020-0294
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 4 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

https://www.bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/event/accident-to-the-helicopter-airbus-as350-registered-f-hjsc-on-22072020-at-nimes-garons-ad/
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/as350-h125-birdstrike-red-kite/

Location

Images:


Photo: BEA

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
01-Aug-2020 11:44 harro Added
02-Dec-2020 20:51 Aerossurance Updated [Aircraft type]
16-Dec-2020 09:59 harro Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Nature, Departure airport, Narrative, Accident report, Photo]
25-Dec-2020 13:00 Aerossurance Updated [Narrative, Plane category, Accident report]
30-Dec-2020 10:09 Aerossurance Updated [Source, Accident report]

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