ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 46461
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| Date: | Thursday 5 December 1996 |
| Time: | 22:20 |
| Type: |  Robinson R22 Beta |
| Owner/operator: | Ridge Air Ltd |
| Registration: | ZK-HDD |
| MSN: | 0855 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1988 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Matawai, East Coast -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | |
| Matawai, NW of Gisborne | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The helicopter was being used for a deer recovery operation, part of which was to pick up the shooter. This operation was conducted during the hours of darkness. The helicopter was fitted with landing lights. It was seen to descend to a low level in darkness over hilly terrain. The helicopter passed over a farmhouse at low level, at which point the landing lights were switched on.
It then traversed a gully running at approximately 90 degrees to its flight path and then impacted on rising ground on the far side of the gully. The main rotor blades struck and severed the tail boom during a rapid manoeuvre initiated by the pilot to avoid contacting rising ground immediately in front of the helicopter. One of the helicopter main rotor blades entered the cabin and struck the passenger, causing a fatal blow to the head.
The pilot was killed as a result of the ground impact. There was no evidence of pre-impact failure of any control system or helicopter components. The helicopter had a valid Maintenance Release and Certificate of Airworthiness, and its records indicate it had been regularly maintained. Examination of the fuel-low warning light revealed that the filament exhibited signs of being stretched while hot .While not conclusive evidence, this indicates that the light was on and the helicopter was very low on fuel at the time of impact. The light comes on when there is approximately one gallon of fuel remaining, which is sufficient for 5 minutes flight.
Causal factors for this accident were: the pilot lost sight of the ground while flying the helicopter at low level; pilot fuel management procedure was less than adequate; and the pilot was not properly licensed to fly the helicopter and thus was not subjected to the normal checks inherent in the regulatory system.
Sources:
1. https://www.caa.govt.nz/Script/Accident_Details.asp?Oc=96/3239
2. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=2226
3. https://www.caa.govt.nz/script/AirReg3.asp?Mark=HDD&Query3=Get+Reg+Mark
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matawai,_New_Zealand
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 4 December 1995 | ZK-HDD | Ridge Air Ltd | 1 | near Karamea, West Coast | |
non |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Nov-2008 10:35 | ASN archive | Added |
| 23-Feb-2013 06:11 | Anon. | Updated [Cn] |
| 22-Sep-2016 17:34 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Aug-2020 08:46 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Destination airport] |
| 06-Oct-2021 20:22 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 06-Feb-2022 07:24 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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