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| Date: | Monday 7 January 2013 |
| Time: | 20:02 |
| Type: |  Boeing Vertol 234LR |
| Owner/operator: | Columbia Helicopters |
| Registration: | N241CH |
| MSN: | MJ016 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1983 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | San Juan, Ucayali -
 Peru
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | External load operation |
| Departure airport: | Pucallpa Airport (PCL/SPCL) |
| Tarapoto Airport (TPP/SPST) | |
| Investigating agency: | CIAA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Broke up in mid-air, crashed in the Amazon jungle and caught fire, 5 minutes after take off. All 7 POB employees of the operator. It was under contract to Repsol for petroleum exploration support and was en route to a drilling location in northern Peru with an underslung load. Takeoff weight was circa 48,385 lbs.
The 'green' blade, s/n A-2-036, mounted on the Aft rotor head, had previously been fitted to G-BISO at the time of its accident in 1984. All six blades were refurbished by Columbia Helicopters after that accident and their submergence in the North Sea. It had undergone a number of repairs. A lost of part of this blade precipitated a break-up of the aircraft. The rear pylon was found separated from other wreckage. Pre-existing fatigue cracking was found in the sheet metal structure at Station 534. This resulted in its susceptibility to vibration from a loss of a proportion of a blade. Three possible scenarios resulting in the failure of the green blade are postulated.
Service Bulletin (SB) No. 234-54-0003 was issued on 31 Jan 2013 for an inspection of the rear pylon structure. Three reported cases of structural cracks were found due to this Service Bulletin, two of which were representative of the cracks found on the rear pylon of the crashed helicopter.
Subsequently, the SB No. 234-54-0004 was published on 22 November 2013 for a recurring structural NDT inspection at the pylon fixing points of STA 534 and STA 594 stations. Additionally, SB No. 234-62-0008 was published on 21 November 2013 for recurring visual inspections. FAA AD 2014-13-04 was issued in July 2014.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.peruviantimes.com/07/seven-killed-in-helicopter-crash-in-peruvian-jungle/17800/
https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/08/world/americas/peru-helicopter-crash/index.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/01/7_dead_in_peru_crash_of_portla.html
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgad.nsf/AOCADSearch/14136FCD6ED7FAB786257D07004A5649?OpenDocument
http://transparencia.mtc.gob.pe/idm_docs/P_recientes/8516.pdf (In Spanish and 217Mb!!!)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 1 June 1983 | N234BV | Atlantic Richfield Co. | 0 | Mekoryuk, AK |  |
non |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Jan-2013 21:56 | Arjen-lima | Added |
| 08-Jan-2013 00:27 | ben-haverdee | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, ] |
| 08-Jan-2013 03:04 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, ] |
| 08-Jan-2013 06:16 | bizjets101 | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 08-Jan-2013 08:09 | Geno | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, ] |
| 13-Jan-2013 08:57 | TB | Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 06-Sep-2014 18:05 | Aerossurance | Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 06-Sep-2014 18:07 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Jan-2015 09:51 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 12-Jan-2015 10:06 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, ] |
| 21-Jan-2016 20:38 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, ] |
| 24-Sep-2016 09:32 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, ] |
| 24-Sep-2016 09:45 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Source, ] |
| 24-Sep-2016 14:27 | Aerossurance | Updated [Nature, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Sep-2016 15:02 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Sep-2016 15:16 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 24-Sep-2016 15:18 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency, ] |
| 01-Mar-2017 16:19 | TB | Updated [Source, ] |
| 27-Dec-2018 18:36 | harro | Updated [Source, Accident report, ] |
| 27-Aug-2019 17:49 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 22-Sep-2020 10:30 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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