ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 272973
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| Date: | Tuesday 5 April 2005 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Bell 206L-3 |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZS-HUP |
| MSN: | 51268 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Farm near Three Rivers -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | |
| Nature: | |
| Departure airport: | Power Station Three Rivers area |
| Power Station Three Rivers area | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On Tuesday morning, 5 April 2005, power line maintenance was to be performed on the Eskom, Glockner Lethabo 2, 275 Kilo Volt line. The aircraft was being operated from a sub station near Three Rivers. Prior to the first flight of the day, the pilot conducted his pre-flight inspection on the Bell 206L-3 helicopter, followed by a safety briefing with the live-line team, where after the maintenance commenced. Maintenance personnel were in the process of being transferred from tower 43 to tower 44, and all workers had departed the helicopter where after the pilot positioned the helicopter on the left-hand side of tower 43 (facing in a north-westerly direction). While established in an out-of-ground effect 100-foot hover next to tower 43, the pilot reported that the engine suffered a power loss. He could not maintain further flight and initiated a hovering autorotation from 100 feet and landed hard in a maize field adjacent to the power lines. The pilot who was the sole occupant of the helicopter at the time was not injured in the accident. The last Mandatory Periodic Inspection (MPI) prior to the accident was certified on 15 March 2005 at 9361.0 airframe hours. Since the MPI was certified a further 55.6 hours were flown. The Operator, Sapphire Air was in possession of a valid Air Operating Certificate No. N303D at the time of the event and the pilot was appropriately licensed to conduct the flight. PROBABLE CAUSE: The pneumatic Pc tube located between the Power Turbine (PT) Governor and the Fuel Control Unit (FCU) fractured and separated at the FCU connection. This caused the engine to spool down to ground idle (which is between 54-56% N1) resulting in a substantial engine power loss, with the aircraft unable to maintain further flight, resulting in a forced landing (auto-rotative power off landing) in a maize field.
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
S.A. CAA
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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