ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 273160
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| Date: | Wednesday 7 May 2003 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350B3 |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZS-RPD |
| MSN: | 3365 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2001 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Wonder Valley in Drakensberg Mountains -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | |
| Nature: | |
| Departure airport: | Weenen |
| Weenen | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
During the third day of a crime prevention operation in the lower Drakenberg area, which basically involved stock theft operations, the pilot accompanied by a crew member and three passengers (policemen) orbited a kraal in the Wonder Valley area, when they noted a 'dagga'? marijuana field from the air while flying at a speed of approximately 50kts and a height of 50-100 feet AGL (above ground level). A person was observed running from the field with two bags, suspected to be filled with marijuana. A right turn was executed to keep the suspect visual. After one orbit to the right the pilot felt the aircraft descending, he then rolled level, with the aircraft facing down a ridge. Collective pitch was increased to a value somewhere in the yellow arc on the FLI (First Limit Indicator). The aircraft continued to descend, and the pilot increased the collective pitch lever but the aircraft impacted the ground (maize field) in a level attitude on both skids. During the forward motion of the aircraft the left skid gear assembly dug into the ground and the aircraft rolled over forward and to the left and came to a rest on its left in a ditch. The engine was still running at that stage and the pilot managed to shut it down by closing the fuel shut off lever. The three passengers disembarked on the left-hand side of the aircraft. After switching all the electrical switches off, the pilot and crew member managed to disembark from the wreckage on the left-hand side down into the ditch. PROBABLE CAUSE: During an attempt by the pilot to keep a suspect visual he executed a right turn followed by a deceleration of the aircraft with the intention to execute a landing in order to arrest the suspect. Due to diverted attention by the pilot during the subsequent manoeuvre he most probably allowed the main rotor RPM to decay to as low as 320 rpm (information that was obtained from DECU download). The pilot noted the high rate of descent once he levelled the aircraft and attempted to recover by applying collective pitch, but due to insufficient height available the aircraft continued to descend at a substantial rate until it impacted with terrain in a level attitude, followed by a subsequent roll-over.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
S.A. CAA
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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