ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 526
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| Date: | Thursday 27 June 1996 |
| Time: | 10:15 |
| Type: |  Kawasaki KH4 (Bell 47G-3B) |
| Owner/operator: | private |
| Registration: | VH-AHU |
| MSN: | 2166 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 8 km N of Silent Grove, WA -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Silent Grove, WA |
| Silent Grove. WA | |
| Investigating agency: | BASI |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The flight was planned to take two park-rangers and a tourist on a scenic flight of the Bell and Isdell River gorges. The flight was expected to last 1 hour.
The helicopter departed Silent Grove on 27 June 1996, around 0900. It flew for about 20 minutes before landing at the junction of the Isdell and Sprigg Rivers to allow the occupants to inspect a boab tree.
After 15 minutes on the ground, the helicopter departed for a further inspection of the Isdell River. About 40 minutes later, it was turned towards Silent Grove and a climb from the inspection height of 500 ft above ground level was started. As it climbed clear of the gorge, the helicopter shuddered as if affected by winds and, following a query from a passenger, the pilot advised he was looking for somewhere to land. The pilot started a descent and, as the helicopter passed 300 ft above ground level, the engine lost all power. The pilot placed the helicopter in autorotational flight before attempting a landing. He was unable to raise the nose sufficiently to complete the landing-flare and the helicopter touched down heavily on rough ground amongst large boulders.
During the landing the main rotor cut the tail boom off and the helicopter bounced and turned through 90 degrees before touching down a final time. The impact was sufficient to distort the cabin area, causing the passengers' seats to either partially or fully collapse and the pilot's seat to be torn from its mountings. Although the passengers' seat belts held them in the helicopter, the pilot was thrown out of the wreckage. The collapse of the centre rear passenger seat and the lack of shoulder restraint, allowed the occupant's upper body to be thrown forward so that it made contact with the rear of the pilot's seat.
All passengers were able to exit the wreckage and move away although all had received significant spinal injuries. One passenger untangled the pilot's legs from parts of the aircraft, but because of his injuries, he was not moved any further. The most mobile of the passengers set out on foot, shortly after the crash, to get help. He arrived at the Silent Grove campsite at around 0630 the following morning. The search for the helicopter had started on the evening of the crash as a result of information received from the wife of one of the passengers. The wreckage and survivors were not found until 1100 on the day after the crash. One passenger had died during the night from injuries received in the crash.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/24880/ASOR199601982.pdf
2. http://www.rotorspot.nl/historic/vh-1.php
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-Jan-2008 10:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 16-Aug-2010 13:57 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Damage, Narrative] |
| 20-Oct-2011 15:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 08-Apr-2014 19:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Jun-2018 10:08 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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