ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 58995
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| Date: | Friday 20 March 2009 |
| Time: | 16:25 LT |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 II |
| Owner/operator: | S. Menzies Investments Pty Ltd |
| Registration: | VH-HFS |
| MSN: | 11985 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2007 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | near Narooma, NSW -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Merimbular, NSW (MIM/YMER) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The helicopter was landing on private property and was caught by a sudden wind gust. The copter turned onto its side, and the rotor hit the ground turning the helicopter upright again. Passenger suffered minor injury.
According to the following eyewitness report:
"Friday 20th March 2009, about 16:25
Weather fine and clear, visibility excellent.
Temp 24. Wind NE, about 4 knots.
Slope on land is mild, and slopes upward from the direction the helicopter approached. The Helicopter made an approach over our property, from the South, to the Rumsey property and moved over the road in a hover .. all appeared normal. We have seen this helicopter a dozen or so times in the past do exactly the same approach
My wife was watching the landing from our front verandah, I was watching from the bedroom window. We had an uninterrupted view from a distance of about 250 metres. There were no cars on our road, nor spectators in the open.
The helicopter was positioned in the approximate area where it normally touches down, and appeared to touch down normally...for a split second.
Immediately the helicopter pitched forward and I had time to think that it was a rough landing. Then it bounced backward and hit the ground with rear part of the landing legs. It seemed to do this a couple of times appearing to get more and more out of control, it appeared to gain a little height perhaps the pilot trying to get into a hover, or from bouncing on the skids? However it was VERY unstable and appeared to be rocking.
Finally the helicopter then pitched forward and tipped slightly sideways to the left when the rotors impacted the ground. When the rotors hit the ground everything happened violently and very quickly after.
Then it bounced into the air, did a 180 degree flip in a clockwise direction (on a fore to aft axis) and turned 180 degrees horizontally and amazingly it landed correct side up facing in the reverse direction to its initial hover. Everything happened so quickly and violently at this point I could be incorrect in stating that the copter was inverted. This used be called a reverse immelmann or splits S in aeroplane aerobatics. One of the rotors had sheared off, and as I went to the car I could hear the motor over-rev substantially.
I got in our car and went briskly to the scene, from our house. My wife rang 000. On arriving at the scene, about 45 seconds, the male was walking from the helicopter with a few superficial cuts to his right arm. He was holding it quite gingerly and I was concerned he may have a fracture to the right Radius/Ulna. He also complained of a very sore lower back...I suggested sitting down, however he was fairly agitated. He appeared to be in a slight degree of shock. The female was squatting down with a cut to her hand and also had a very sore back she also appeared in mild shock. The wounds appeared not to require stitching, and no heavy bleeding was involved.
There appeared, at the time, to be no life-threatening injuries and the male informed me he had switched off the master switch and two magnetos. He was concerned about the welfare of his wife, and whether a fire would start. Despite being agitated he had appeared to take all precautions to secure the copter as far as possible. He re-lived the landing a couple of times...collective and so on, which meant not a lot to me.
Fuel was dripping quite strongly from underneath the helicopter from what appeared to be drain tubes? There was a substantial amount of fuel in the helicopter and on the ground (split fuel tank?). The rate of leakage looked to be about 50 mls per second. The female expressed concern her mobile phone was in the helicopter and may ring, causing a fire. I had a brief look inside the cabin and could not see it, however there was a lot of stuff strewn about. The fumes by this stage were quite strong. The phone was found in her handbag in a couple of minutes. Two other parties arrived within a few minutes. Amazingly, to my eyes, the cabin was intact. Seats seemed to be not damaged, all windows were OK and doors opened and closed OK. The Boom was bent, and one rotor was about 40m. from the helicopter. The mast was substantially damaged
A distance was kept from the helicopter in case of a fuel fire. Within 10 minutes the ambulance arrived. Then the Rural Fire Brigade which secured the area, put in place a pollution barrier, then they sprayed the helicopter and area with foam. Then the Police arrived. The relief there were no serious injuries or death was palpable"
Sources:
1. http://www.naroomanewsonline.com.au/news/local/news/general/helicopter-crashes-on-landing-at-narooma/1465381.aspx
2. http://www.bladeslapper.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1700
3. http://houser747.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/vh-updates-240809-to-300809.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Mar-2009 08:00 | slowkid | Added |
| 04-May-2014 03:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Jun-2022 10:42 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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