ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 226105
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| Date: | Wednesday 12 June 2019 |
| Time: | 13:31 LT |
| Type: |  AgustaWestland AW139 |
| Owner/operator: | Babcock MCS Spain |
| Registration: | EC-NEH |
| MSN: | 31579 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2014 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Buenache de la Sierra, Albarracín (Teruel) -
 Spain
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Muchamiel Airport (LEMU) |
| Gijón-El Musel Heliport | |
| Investigating agency: | CIAIAC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The AW139 helicopter, registration EC-NEH, operated by Babcock, with flight code INR221A, made a positioning flight from Muchamiel airport (Alicante) to the El Musel base (Gijón).
At 53 minutes of flight, stabilised in the route phase over Serranía de Cuenca, the helicopter flew exceeding the certification limits in both yaw and balance, reaching in three seconds a roll angle of -140° while producing yaw oscillations with consecutive variations of +54°/s, -31°/s and +70°/s and variations in the pitch angles between -12° and 21°. This loss of control resulted in the following:
- the detachment of two emergency windows, and
- the change of the power control of the two engines to manual, due to an overspeed condition of the turbines which was not recognized by the pilot, which led him to make an emergency landing, thinking that the engines had failed.
The pilot managed to stabilise the helicopter 11 seconds after the event and, for 46 seconds, made a controlled descent, with power, to a clear area where he performed a run-on landing. The pilot and occupant were unharmed.
The investigation has concluded that the probable cause of the accident of the EC-NEH helicopter was a loss of control in flight following the disconnection of the automatic flight system through the FTR (Force Trim Release) switches and the assumption of manual control by the pilot. The loss of control was probably due to the pilot's misperception of the helicopter’s actual attitude.
Sources:
https://www.europapress.es/castilla-lamancha/noticia-rescatan-piloto-helicoptero-buenache-sierra-cuenca-sufrir-accidente-albarracin-teruel-20190612184159.html
https://www.lne.es/gijon/2019/06/12/accidente-helicoptero-gijon/2487204.html
https://www.fomento.gob.es/organos-colegiados/ciaiac/investigacion/2019/a-027-2019
https://aerossurance.com/air-accidents-incidents/sar-aw139-loc-i-during-positioning-flight/
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Media:
After encountering turbulence a Loss of Control occurred when Force Trim Release (FTR) was activated say Spanish investigators. https://t.co/tEsFCb8raD #sar #searchandrescue #helicopter #flightsafety #aviationsafety pic.twitter.com/x9UrlsFbBK
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) July 16, 2023
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Jun-2019 19:10 | Iceman 29 | Added |
| 12-Jun-2019 19:17 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 27-Jun-2019 10:00 | Victor | Updated [Narrative] |
| 09-Jul-2019 16:19 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 25-Nov-2021 19:58 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Damage, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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