Accident Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil CS-HIA,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 178452
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Saturday 8 August 2015
Time:14:05 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic AS50 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil
Owner/operator:Everjets, opf Autoridade Nacional de Protecção Civil
Registration: CS-HIA
MSN: 3699
Year of manufacture:2003
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Lapa, Refoios de Cima, Arcos de Valdevez, Minho -   Portugal
Phase: Landing
Nature:Fire fighting
Departure airport:Arcos de Valdevez
Destination airport:Arcos de Valdevez
Investigating agency: GPIAAF
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The helicopter was returning from a fire fighting operation at Valença.
While attempting to land with tail wind in gusty conditions the helicopter sank and despite the pilot efforts the tail rotor ended up striking the ground. Helicopter started to spin and crashed in a
local road.
The fuselage came to rest on its left hand side on a hillside. Two of the six occupants (1 pilot and five firemen) received minor injuries.

Probable causes:
Ineffective or non-existent risk analysis by the pilot in performing an unplanned approach and landing manoeuvre was identified as the probable cause for the accident.
Contributing factors:
The spirit of mission in pursuit of an objective understood by the pilot as a priority and underlined by the GIPS team.
The pilot’s degraded performance, consistent with the effects of some degree of fatigue, limited his ability to properly assess the risks during landing phase on mountainous region.
The meteorological conditions contributed to the accident due to the high temperatures and unstable atmosphere with gusty winds conditions.
The terrain orography may had also contributed to generate strong turbulence with downward gust on the south region of the hill, as significant wind was coming from the north.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: GPIAAF
Report number: 
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 3 years and 7 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

http://www.cmjornal.xl.pt/cm_ao_minuto/detalhe/dois_feridos_ligeiros_em_incidente_com_helicoptero.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20150809175048/http://news.libertagia.com:80/society/acidente-com-helicoptero-de-combate-a-fogos-faz-dois-feridos-em-ponte-de-lima
http://www.publico.pt/portugal/noticia/helicoptero-de-combate-a-fogos-cai-em-ponte-de-lima-1704457
https://www.jn.pt/paginainicial/pais/concelho.aspx?Distrito=Viana%20do%20Castelo&Concelho=Ponte%20de%20Lima&Option=Interior&content_id=4721141
http://allaircraft.net/4images/details.php?image_id=22856&sessionid=jtaoqjnrm8pnh1fm404s5ni210
http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/2015/2015.semaine.33.pdf

Images:


Photo: GPIAAF

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
09-Aug-2015 14:59 Fusko Added
09-Aug-2015 15:00 harro Updated [Aircraft type]
09-Aug-2015 18:09 Geno Updated [Registration, Cn, Other fatalities, Source]
10-Aug-2015 19:56 Aerossurance Updated [Narrative]
18-Aug-2015 22:11 Aerossurance Updated [Time, Phase, Source, Narrative]
01-Apr-2019 17:12 harro Updated [Operator, Narrative, Photo, Accident report, ]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org