ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 280989
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| Date: | Friday 8 August 1997 |
| Time: | 15:43 |
| Type: |  Hughes 269C |
| Owner/operator: | Hughes Helicopter Co Ltd t/a Biggin Hill Helicopters |
| Registration: | G-BSCD |
| MSN: | 740327 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Redhill Aerodrome, South Nutfield, Redhill, Surrey -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Redhill Aerodrome, Redhill, Surrey (EGKR) |
| Redhill Aerodrome, Redhill, Surrey (EGKR) |
Hughes 269C G-BSCD crashed twice, once in 1996 and once in 1997 - both times at Redhill. This posting rounds up the two crashes.
First crash: At Redhill Airfield on the afternoon of 15 September 1996, whilst hovering at a height of about four feet, the pilot of Hughes 269 G-BSCD sought to make a turn to starboard. As he did, the starboard skid of the helicopter made contact with the ground, causing the helicopter to roll to starboard. Its main rotor blades struck the ground and the helicopter ended up on its starboard side. The two people on board made their exit, uninjured and unaided, through the uppermost port door. The helicopter was badly damaged - to the cabin, tail boom, stabiliser and fuel tank mounts - and the tail rotor drive shaft was sheared. However the damage was made good - only for it to suffer another accident, at the same airfield, barely a year later.
Second crash: On the afternoon of 8 August 1997 Hughes 269 G-BSCD was being used for a pilot re-certification flight. The pilot seeking re-certification was asked, by the instructor, to make an auto-rotational landing at Redhill Airfield. This commenced at 1,000 feet but the pilot allowed the speed to decay. The instructor drew this to his attention and the pilot increased the speed, which also increased the rate of descent. This resulted in the landing flare being undertaken too low and too slow, necessitating the intervention of the instructor. However from that position not even he could make a successful landing. He attempted a 'run on' landing. On touchdown, the helicopter slid in a straight line for about 10 metres before, unexpectedly, becoming airborne again. It flew for about 18 metres before touching down again. From this point it slid, again in a straight line, for about 5 metres, during which the helicopter was felt to vibrate and a loud crack was heard. The latter was the tail boom falling off!
This occurred because, during the short distance in which the helicopter again took to the air, the main rotor RPM had dropped significantly, causing the main blades to flap downward and strike the boom. Neither men were injured and, after shutting down the helicopter, they left it unaided. The instructor subsequently opined that had he intervened earlier in the auto-rotational descent, the landing accident might not have happened.
Hughes 269C was first registered in Sweden as SE-HFG: This helicopter was imported to Sweden by SAAB-Scania A/B in late-1974 and was sold to the Sterner brothers a year later. The brothers operated the machine in their company Sterner Aero A/B in 15 years before it was sold to Heli Holland Holding BV in 1990, who re-registered it as PH-HSH. However, Heli Holland soon sold the machine to March Helicopters Ltd in the UK, who registered it as G-BSCD on 13 August 1990.
After going through the hands of seven owners as G-BSCD, it was re-registered as G-IBHH on 20 August 1999. On 17 March 2014 G-IBHH had its registration cancelled as "Permanently withdrawn from use"
Sources:
1. AAIB (Crash of 15-9-1996): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ed8040f0b61346000197/dft_avsafety_pdf_501880.pdf
2. AAIB (Crash of 8-8-1997): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422fac9e5274a1317000817/dft_avsafety_pdf_502163.pdf
3. http://www.rotorspot.nl/product/h269c.php
4. As SE-HFG: https://nordicrotors.com/aircraft/se-hfg/261
5. As SE-HFG: https://forum.flyghistoria.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=15036
6. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04550164/charges
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Jul-2022 23:07 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
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