ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 235371
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| Date: | Wednesday 22 April 2020 |
| Time: | 08:08 LT |
| Type: |  Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II |
| Owner/operator: | Nautilus Aviation |
| Registration: | VH-NBR |
| MSN: | 45232 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Banks Peak, Moa Island, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Kubin Airport, QLD |
| Banks Peak, Moa Island, Queensland | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 22 April 2020, at about 07:56, a Bell 206L1-C30P LongRanger helicopter, registered VH-NBR and operated by Nautilus Aviation, departed Kubin Airport, Australia. The passenger charter flight was transporting workers and equipment to a communications tower on Banks Peak, a mountain on the north-east side of Moa Island in the Torres Strait. On board were a pilot, and two passengers seated in the rear seats.
Overhead Banks Peak, the pilot conducted an aerial reconnaissance circuit of the helicopter landing site (HLS). The pilot then approached the site from the north, for landing. Closer to the ground, the pilot had difficulty locating the helipad. Grass had grown across the helipad and its edges.
At 08:08, the pilot manoeuvred over the top of the helipad and using rotor downwash to push the grass and reveal the edges of the helipad. During this process, the tail rotor contacted trees 9 m from the helipad on the eastern side. A video taken by one of the passengers showed that, as the helicopter was turning to the right, a buzzing sound was heard, followed by a crack. Immediately after this sound, the helicopter spun rapidly to the right before rolling left. The helicopter collided with terrain and was destroyed.
Contributing factors:
- The helipad maintenance schedule was not sufficient to prevent the gravel helipad from being overgrown. This enabled vegetation to grow out from the centre of the helipad, obscuring its edges and making its borders difficult to identify during landing.
- While the pilot was manoeuvring in the confined area, the tail rotor contacted a tree. This led to a tail rotor failure, resulting in rapid rotation and collision with terrain.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.cairnspost.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=CPWEB_WRE170_a_TWT&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cairnspost.com.au%2Fnews%2Fcairns%2Fhelicopter-crashes-on-remote-fnq-island%2Fnews-story%2F77e1a0b1157b1d472a2ce5b7cd03c6bb&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21suffix=107-b
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2020/aair/ao-2020-023/
https://cdn.jetphotos.com/full/5/64548_1472734657.jpg (photo)
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-Apr-2020 06:07 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 23-Apr-2020 06:10 | harro | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Apr-2020 06:10 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 23-Apr-2020 07:54 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Source] |
| 23-Jan-2021 09:08 | harro | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Embed code, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
| 23-Jan-2021 09:09 | harro | Updated [Operator] |
| 08-May-2021 17:22 | harro | Updated [[Operator]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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