ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 267751
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| Date: | Thursday 16 September 2021 |
| Time: | c. 06:30 |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Lister Helicopters |
| Registration: | ZK-ITD |
| MSN: | 7815 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2014 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 3136 hours |
| Engine model: | Safran Arriel 2D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Lake Mahinerangi, Otago -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Milton |
| Alexandra | |
| Investigating agency: | TAIC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
An AS350 B3e helicopter, ZK-ITD, was being flown from the operator’s base in Milton to a client’s cherry orchard near Alexandra to conduct frost protection operations.
The flight departed approximately one hour before the beginning of morning civil twilight (when the centre of the rising sun’s disc is 6 degrees below the horizon). It proceeded normally until just before reaching the township of Lawrence.
The helicopter conducted a series of turns immediately before, and after, reaching the township of Lawrence. Soon after passing Lawrence, while over the Lammerlaw Range, the helicopter made a descending right-hand turn through nearly 160 degrees before entering a left-hand spiral dive that ended in a near vertical nose-down impact with the ground.
The helicopter was destroyed on impact and the pilot (the sole occupant) did not survive.
The helicopter had departed the operator’s base one hour after the moon had set and one hour before the beginning of morning civil twilight. It was close to the darkest part of the night.
The pilot almost certainly encountered cloud in the vicinity of Lawrence and was very likely attempting to manoeuvre around it. With increasing cloud cover and little or no terrestrial light in the Lammerlaw Range area it was very likely that the pilot lost their clearly defined horizon soon after passing Lawrence.
The helicopter continued to climb straight ahead for nearly three minutes before the pilot very likely became disorientated. The pilot’s disorientation very likely resulted in a high angle of bank turn, followed by the rapid descent of the helicopter, which was consistent with spatial disorientation and loss of control of the helicopter.
The pilot had met the currency requirements for their restricted night rating. However, it had been about nine years since the pilot had last logged instrument flying practice. It was very unlikely that the pilot was proficient in flight with sole reference to aircraft instruments at the time of the accident.
Two safety issues were identified:
The rules and guidance information for night Visual Flight Rules (VFR) are ambiguous. This could lead to night VFR pilots flying longer distances than permitted at night and encountering night flying conditions outside their capabilities.
The current rules for and guidance on instrument currency for night VFR do not adequately mitigate the risks of inadvertent flight into conditions where the clearly defined horizon is lost.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/one-person-dead-after-helicopter-crash-in-otago/5BWU5FLRCUXAGQZRHIV3JXZMVQ/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126397683/one-dead-following-helicopter-crash-in-otago
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/zk-itd#29297148
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Sep-2021 21:26 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 15-Sep-2021 21:33 | Geno | Updated [Source] |
| 16-Sep-2021 06:21 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 16-Sep-2021 06:22 | harro | Updated [Operator] |
| 16-Sep-2021 06:25 | harro | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 16-Sep-2021 06:28 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Category] |
| 16-Sep-2021 10:16 | RobertMB | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 05-Feb-2022 00:59 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 17-Nov-2023 08:22 | harro | Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Narrative, Accident report] |
| 17-Nov-2023 08:24 | harro | Updated [Other fatalities, Category] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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