ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 65996
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| Date: | Thursday 25 June 2009 |
| Time: | c. 22:30 |
| Type: |  Robinson R22 Beta II |
| Owner/operator: | Northshore Holdings (NT) Pty Ltd |
| Registration: | VH-HXO |
| MSN: | 2935 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 120 Km West of Paraburdoo, WA -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Newman, Western Australia |
| Uaroo Station, Western Australia | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 24 June 2009, the pilot of a Robinson Helicopter Company R22 Beta II (R22), registered VH-HXO, departed Mareeba, Queensland, on a private positioning flight to Uaroo, Western Australia (WA). The pilot was conducting the ferry flight as a means to increase his flying hours and experience. Another pilot was at Uaroo in preparation to utilise the helicopter for mustering operations upon its arrival.
On the night of 24 June 2009, the pilot had landed VH-HXO and stayed in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The following morning, VH-HXO departed Alice Springs, heading towards Uaroo. The pilot made several scheduled fuel stops as expected, but was running behind the expected schedule due to a westerly headwind.
A witness on the ground at Carnegie, WA, saw the pilot of VH-HXO refuelling the helicopter as well as three fuel containers. At about 17:00 WST (Western Standard Time) VH-HXO then departed Carnegie heading for Newman, Western Australia. The last known stop for the pilot was on the night of 25 June 2009, at Newman, WA.
Another Robinson helicopter operator reported seeing a Robinson R22 helicopter near Newman at about 20:30 WST, flying at a height of about 400 feet. The helicopter navigation and strobe lights were visible at the time. The witness reported seeing only a ‘sliver of a moon’, which was obscured about half of the time due to cloud.
A fuel company swipe card registered to VH-HXO was used to activate the fuel bowser pump at about 20:30 WST. At some stage after refuelling, VH-HXO departed Newman, WA, heading towards Paraburdoo, WA. From the pilot’s telephone records, it was confirmed that several calls were received and made within the mobile coverage range of Tom Price, WA and Paraburdoo, WA. One of the calls received within mobile coverage of Paraburdoo was from a friend of the pilot. During the conversation, the friend got the impression that the pilot was going to sleep at that location, although his location was not clarified during the conversation. The last recorded mobile usage was at about 22:29 WST. Mobile phone activity resumed the following morning at about 06:30 WST with calls diverting to the phone message bank service.
On 26 June 2009, after the expected arrival time of the helicopter, and after several attempts to contact the pilot, Australian Search and Rescue was notified and a search for the missing helicopter commenced. The wreckage was located that afternoon at approximately 14:30 WST, about 120 km west of Paraburdoo. The pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured and the helicopter sustained serious damage.
The helicopter had impacted the ground in an almost inverted, right-side low, attitude. The main wreckage of the helicopter came to rest facing back along the planned flight path and the initial impact mark of the helicopter was directly beside the main wreckage
The wreckage, including pieces of the tail boom skin, tail rotor driveshaft and tail rotor, was dispersed over a distance of about 120 metres on an approximate bearing of 190° magnetic. Pieces of the tail boom, including the fin, tail rotor and tail rotor gearbox were located to the north of the main wreckage
The distribution of the tail boom assembly along the wreckage trail, and damage to the assembly showed that it had separated from the helicopter in flight. There was extensive deformation of the assembly and indications of at least two main rotor blade contacts. There was also paint transfer from the red tail boom onto the main rotor blades
Both of the main rotor blades remained attached to the main rotor hub. Both of the blades displayed chord-wise creasing from bending rearwards, as well as paint transfer from contact with the tail boom. The spar had failed on one main rotor blade, near the root end of the blade, consistent with an overstress failure. Forward bending was evident just outboard from the point of failure. The droop tusk had also failed in overstress on that blade
The other main rotor blade had bent downwards at right angles close to the blade root, and the tip of that blade had been compressed inwards. A section of the main rotor blade fairing had separated from the spar, outboard from the right angle bend, and the droop tusk had been bent down.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. ATSB: https://www.atsb.gov.au/media/2486639/ao2009031.pdf
2. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/qld-pilot-dies-in-wa-helicopter-crash-20090627-d046.html
3. https://thewest.com.au/default.aspxMenuID=77&ContentID=151047
NTSB
5. https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2009/aair/ao-2009-031/
6. https://www.casa.gov.au/aircraft-register/kjj?search_api_views_fulltext=&vh=&field_ar_serial=&page=488
7. http://www.asasi.org/papers/2011/Investigating%20Without%20Systemic%20Issues%20-%20Rob%20Chopin.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Jun-2009 08:42 | Petro | Added |
| 29-Jun-2009 01:46 | slowkid | Updated |
| 29-Jun-2009 11:27 | harro | Updated |
| 04-May-2014 20:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Sep-2014 14:00 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 03-Oct-2016 18:42 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2018 18:57 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2018 18:58 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 26-Sep-2018 19:03 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Source] |
| 07-Jun-2022 20:37 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Source] |
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