ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 138005
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: | Thursday 18 August 2011 |
| Time: | 19:02 LT |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 355F2 Ecureuil II |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | VH-NTV |
| MSN: | 5380 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Unknown |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 145 km N of Marree (near Lake Eyre) SA -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Cooper Creek inlet |
| Muloorina Station | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
On 18 August 2011, VH-NTV, on charter to Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was being operated under the visual flight rules (VFR) in an area east of Lake Eyre, South Australia. At about 1900 Central Standard Time, the pilot departed an island in the Cooper Creek inlet with two film crew on board for a 30-minute flight to a station for a planned overnight stay. It was after last light and, although there was no low cloud or rain, it was a dark night.
The helicopter levelled at 1,500 ft above mean sea level, and shortly after entered a gentle right turn and then began descending. The turn tightened and the descent rate increased until, 38 seconds after the descent began, the helicopter impacted terrain at high speed with a bank angle of about 90°. The pilot and the two passengers were fatally injured, and the helicopter was destroyed
The ATSB found that the pilot probably selected an incorrect destination on one or both of the helicopter's global positioning system (GPS) units prior to departure. The ATSB concluded that, after initiating the right turn at 1,500 ft, the pilot probably became spatially disoriented. Factors contributing to the disorientation included dark night conditions, high pilot workload associated with establishing the helicopter in cruise flight and probably attempting to correct the fly-to point in a GPS unit, the pilot’s limited recent night flying and instrument flying experience, and the helicopter not being equipped with an autopilot.
Although some of the operator’s risk controls for the conduct of night VFR were in excess of the regulatory requirements, the operator did not effectively manage the risk associated with operations in dark night conditions. The ATSB also identified safety issues with the existing regulatory requirements in that flights for some types of operations were permitted under the VFR in dark night conditions that are effectively the same as instrument meteorological conditions, but without the same level of safety assurance that is provided by the requirements for flight under the instrument flight rules (IFR).
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.fiveaa.com.au/article_abc-staff-killed-in-chopper-crash_109936
https://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/527750-vh-ntv-final-report.html
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2011/aair/ao-2011-102.aspx
http://www.isasi.org/Documents/ForumMagazines/ISASI_Forum_Summer_2015-low-res.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Aug-2011 17:24 | angels one five | Added |
| 18-Aug-2011 21:18 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Phase, Source] |
| 19-Aug-2011 04:06 | Tayug | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 19-Aug-2011 05:05 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Source] |
| 19-Aug-2011 05:31 | angels one five | Updated [Source] |
| 21-Aug-2011 05:46 | flyernzl | Updated [Source] |
| 30-Jun-2015 09:54 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-May-2016 19:45 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation