ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 153197
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| Date: | Saturday 27 March 1999 |
| Time: | 17:50 |
| Type: |  Agusta A109A Hirundo |
| Owner/operator: | Markoss Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | G-USTA |
| MSN: | 7170 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1980 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex |
| Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 27-3-1999, following a short local flight, as the helicopter descended through about 30 feet agl, at low speed on final approach, there was a loud bang and it began to spin rapidly to the right. The pilot lowered the collective and completed the landing but the helicopter touched down hard at Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex (at approximate co ordinates 50°56′00″N 0°11′07″W) sustaining substantial damage.
An initial inspection discovered that the helicopter's tail rotor assembly, complete with the 90 degree gearbox, but with the outer part of one tail rotor blade missing, had separated in flight and was lying about 12 metres from the helicopter. The missing part of the tail rotor blade was found further back along the approach path.
The gearbox and tail boom had torn free due to out-of-balance forces following the blade separation. An examination of the tail rotor blade found a chord wise fatigue fracture in the outboard-facing (tension) skin of the blade at about 25 percent span, immediately adjoining the outer end of a bonded reinforcing doubler. The origin of the fatigue was identified as a small 'thumbnail' area, which extended to a depth of about 70% of the skin's thickness (about 0.6mm) and was about 1.5mm long at the surface of the skin
Damage sustained to airframe: Per the AAIB report "Tail rotor gearbox torn out, extensive damage rear of tail boom and lower fuselage". The damage was presumably enough to render the airframe as "beyond economic repair", as the registration G-USTA was cancelled by the CAA on 5-8-1999 as "Permanently withdrawn from use"
According to one source (see link #7) the remains of G-USTA were "now in use as a simulator by Veritair at Cardiff Heliport, seen October 2009" but "Gone by 07/10".
This helicopter was C/n 7170 ex G-BRYL, G-OAMH, G-ROPE, G-OAMH. Re-registered as G-USTA on 3-12-96.
Sources:
1. AAIB; https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/54230154e5274a1314000a93/dft_avsafety_pdf_501478.pdf
2. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=USTA
3. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=3519
4. https://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=17923.0
5. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02916846/charges
6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/l8rmt/4042009347/in/photolist-2jWCud6-w6gi54-4hbpyR-e4ciL3-7abmyk-8nfEK2-2mQyZYr-2miqD2G-6mM1Qq-jePaWJ-LssgSo-dcouQ3-4BN2RB-7bvwLJ-6opuV3-6opuWo-2koewyn-sJfeJ9-ZLimuE/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurstpierpoint
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Feb-2013 08:06 | TB | Added |
| 20-May-2013 16:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 02-Jun-2013 18:19 | TB | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 25-Jun-2016 20:51 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jul-2016 14:20 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Aug-2022 17:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 04-Aug-2022 17:39 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Category] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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