ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 342848
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| Date: | Saturday 18 July 1998 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Type: |  Bell 205A-1 |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | C-GFHC |
| MSN: | |
| Year of manufacture: | 1969 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Aircraft damage: | Unknown |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Carvoeira Village, Macao -
 Portugal
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | |
| Departure airport: | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
From a report by the Portugese Civil Aviation Authority. Description: While approaching a very small irrigation dam, the helicopter hit the ground in a level, nose down attitude. The main rotor blades impacted a small embankment on the dam side. The helicopter rolled to the right and rested on its right side. Injuries: Minor injuries to the pilot. Damage: Severe - probably total loss of the helicopter. Negligable to surrounding area. Pilot's initial report: The pilot stated that he was coming to fill up the Conair water tank at a small irrigation dam. He was one of three helicopters doing the same while fighting a forest fire nearby. He had already done the same maneuver about twenty times at that location. On the last approach the pilot saw the "Master Caution" light illuminate during the flare; he had no time to verify the cause of the illumination of the "Master Caution" light because he was very near the ground. He tried to push the cyclic stick forward to level the helicopter but found the stick to be very heavy, so he had to apply a lot of force to get the nose down. Simultaneously, he pulled the collective stick up to the stop (the collective stick was found almost all the way up) but got no response - the helicopter continued descent until hitting the ground. After hitting the ground, the helicopter rolled to his right. The pilot left the helicopter via the left cockpit door. The pilot also said that the helicopter was light (about 600 pounds of fuel on board) and that all the approaches were made facing the (light) wind and with power applied to avoid developing a downward momentum. Witness testimonies: Two eye witnesses stated that they had seen the three helicopters coming and going and that everything seemed normal until the final part of the approach of GFHC. The aircraft seemed unstable just before hovering over the dam. The helicopter nosed down and hit the ground. Apart from that final part of the flare, everything looked normal. Another eye witness said that he heard a "bang" when the helicopter was turning to final approach to the dam. He is not sure but thinks he saw something fall from the helicopter. A brief search of the area did not find anything that could be related to the helicopter. One of the other pilots that was filling up the water tanks on that dam stated that the conditions were good - wind, visibility, distance from obstacles, ets. - apart form the very high air temperature of approximately 38 degrees C.
Sources:
CADORS 1998P0560
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