ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 161718
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| Date: | Saturday 26 October 2013 |
| Time: | 14:26 |
| Type: |  Robinson R22 Beta |
| Owner/operator: | Aero Service Littoral |
| Registration: | F-GPKA |
| MSN: | 2448 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1994 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Torreilles, Pyrénées-Orientales 66 -
 France
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport (LFMP) |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Following a decrease in engine power, the pilot entered an autorotation. Upon landing at a solar power plant, the helicopter struck a photovoltaic panel and rolled onto its side. Helicopter came down at Torreilles, Pyrénées Orientales, Canton of La Côte Salanquaise, in the arrondissement of Perpignan (at approximate Coordinates: 42°45′21″N 2°59′41″E). Probable write-off. The pilot and the passenger were slightly injured. According to a rough translation from French into English of contemporary press reports (see links #2, #4 & #5 for the original French text):
"Emergency landing for helicopter between solar panels at Torreilles
With the experience of a seasoned pilot, the worst was avoided yesterday to the photovoltaic farm at Torreilles where a helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing between rows and rows of photovoltaic panels which are aligned over one hectare and a half, separated by just two or three meters.
It was here, in this highly impractical space, the pilot of a small two-seater helicopter managed to make an emergency landing early yesterday afternoon in Torreilles. A landing 'miraculous', given the extent of the damage , given that the two occupants of the aircraft were only slightly injured...Because when the alarm was raised shortly after 14:00 pm, the emergency services had every reason to fear the worst. A helicopter crash in the middle of the solar panels in a sector already overshadowed by tragic accidents...
Yet the arrival of the fifteen dispatched firefighters on site, the pilot and his passenger were virtually unscathed. "Upon arrival, he two occupants who were slightly injured were supported by firefighters and Samu and transported to Perpignan emergency services " , confirmed the commander on the spot Yannick Bureau, who supervised the relief effort. " We now strive to secure the site until the operator shuts off power panels so that the aviation police to intervene " , he added pointing to the potential risk of electrocution.
And while specialized police were conducting the requisite findings amid the debris, Patrick Staub, co-manager of the company Aero Service Littoral nearby who owns the helicopter, did not hide his relief . "You have to congratulate the driver is mastery that made that despite the loss of power, he was able to land. We are very pleased that they are branded in the face both of them, although we are sorry for what happened. the passenger, who was on a maiden flight, long remembered ... that the helicopter is broken, it does not matter, that's just the hardware. the important thing is that they go well " .
Late yesterday afternoon, the remains of the helicopter to be taken to a hangar for the purposes of mutual investigation by aviation police and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
"Without the experience of Mark, it could have been worse"
Thierry, microlight instructor at the base of Torreilles and gyroplane pilot, gave yesterday more items on the accident in which the driver, aged sixty, and his passenger, a man who took advantage of a first flight offered on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, were slightly injured in the face. "Mark, the driver said that two lights came on, there was an engine failure and it s' is put into autorotation, which means it goes down pretty quickly but safely, bowing at the end. Marc is not only an experienced pilot, it is a helicopter instructor, he has 13 000 or 14 000 hours in all, be it by plane, glider, helicopter in. According to witnesses, he was only twenty meters from the ground, which shows its jurisdiction because the less is high , the less the time to ask. It is truly aligned in the middle row, and when touching the blades hung signs which destabilized the device. There must be a luck factor, but without the experience of Mark, it could have been much worse ... "
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. BEA: https://www.bea.aero/fileadmin/documents/docspa/2013/f-ka131026/pdf/f-ka131026.pdf
2. https://www.lindependant.fr/2013/10/27/l-helicoptere-se-pose-par-miracle-entre-les-panneaux-solaires,1804827.php
3. http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?f=52&p=665731&sid=81da6b05d26508bdb3ae36d1aea528dd
4. https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/occitanie/pyrenees-orientales/torreilles-deux-blesses-dans-un-crash-d-helicoptere-346269.html
5. http://www.midilibre.fr/2013/10/26/p-o-un-helicoptere-se-crashe-a-torreilles,775012.php
6. http://helihub.com/2013/10/26/26-oct-13-f-gpka-robinson-r22b-torreilles-france/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torreilles
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2013 06:51 | hydra | Added |
| 28-Oct-2013 06:53 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator] |
| 29-Oct-2013 20:32 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Phase, Nature, Narrative] |
| 15-Oct-2016 15:38 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 31-Aug-2018 21:22 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Jun-2022 08:38 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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