ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 65867
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| Date: | Saturday 20 June 2009 |
| Time: | 16:48 |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350 B2 Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Société Azur Hélicoptère |
| Registration: | F-GTRF |
| MSN: | 9034 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2001 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Mont Cordon, near Brégnier-Cordon, Ain, Rhône-Alpes -
 France
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Walibi Amusement Park, Les Avenières |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The private helicopter carrying 7 people (pilot and 6 passengers) crashed on 20.6.2009 near the town of Bregnier-Cordon, killing all on board. Passengers were three men and three women, aged 19-37 years, were all employed at Walibi Amusement Park, and took advantage of the day (Saturday) to make this flight. The oldest of them, the father of a child, was the deputy director of the amusement park.
The weather conditions were "good" at the time of the crash, assured the sub-prefect of Ain Belley, Didier Doré. There was a "good view" and the wind conditions were normal, told AFP on Sunday Rohozinski Michel, manager of Azur Helicopter Company with offices located in Lyon-Bron.
"The pilot was not tired when the accident occurred and the unit in which he was flying a Squirrel, was revised and cruise completely standard," assured the manager who went on helicopter place half an hour after the tragedy
" This is the worst accident of its kind since ten years " , said Sunday morning during a press briefing in Brégnier-Cordon Secretary of State for Transport Dominique Bussereau, before visiting the families of the seven victims (pilot and six passengers) and rescuers. " In France, few helicopter accidents, especially when, as here, it is carrying civilians " , has he added stressing difficulty " a hypothesis " about the causes.
While on Sunday the amusement park is closed in mourning, two investigations were opened, one assigned to the prosecution of Belley (Ain), the other surveys and analyzes Bureau (BEA) which includes checking if the device was equipped with a black box.
According to a rough translation of the official BEA accident report:
"As part of an aerial demonstration made near the Walibi amusement park, air experience flights are performed for the benefit of spectators and certain employees of the park. Flights had an average duration of six minutes. At 16:45 hours local, the pilot took off for the ninth flight of the day, in the direction of Mont Cordon, with six passengers on board.
Witnesses on the ground, located six hundred meters north of Mont Cordon, in the hamlet of "La Bruyère" see the helicopter flying straight and then make a U-turn with a strong nose down attitude. The helicopter disappears into the trees and a fire was seen at 16:48. The wreck of the helicopter was found shortly after below the Mount, on the edge of a clearing."
The BEA report goes on the state that the helicopter's rotor blades may have clipped the edge of a rocky outcrop on the slopes of Mont Cordon.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2009/f-rf090620/pdf/f-rf090620.pdf
2. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.aspxfile=data/international/2009/June/international_June1710.xml§ion=international
3. http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/bapteme-de-l-air-tragique-dans-l-ain-sept-morts-20-06-2009-554896.php
4. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/17776/
5. http://www.swissheli.com/history/f-gtrf.htm
6. http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=53329
7. https://www.20minutes.fr/france/333857-20090620-ain-sept-personnes-tuent-crash-helicoptere
Location
Media:
AS350B-2 F-GTRF at Phalsbourg-Bourscheid (Camp La Horie) (LFQP) France, September 16, 2007
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Jun-2009 22:32 | slowkid | Added |
| 21-Jun-2009 04:19 | slowkid | Updated |
| 22-Jun-2009 01:34 | signaal | Updated |
| 22-Jun-2009 12:23 | Anon. | Updated |
| 25-Jul-2014 22:58 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 19-Jun-2017 10:56 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport] |
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