ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 168072
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| Date: | Friday 20 June 2014 |
| Time: | 03:30 |
| Type: |  Bell 206L-3 LongRanger III |
| Owner/operator: | MI Helicopters |
| Registration: | VH-NKW |
| MSN: | 51463 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Scotia 3D Seismic Camp, near Taroom, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The pilot of a Bell 206 helicopter, registered VH-NKW, was tasked to drop equipment bags for seismic operations by using a magnetic bag runner connected to the helicopter by a 100 ft long-line.
The helicopter lifted off with seven bags loaded on the runner. During the flight of about 2 NM, the pilot observed that the bag lanyards became tangled. The pilot manoeuvred the bags onto the ground and using dual switches on the cyclic control, released the two solenoids to drop the first bag. The lanyard was tangled around the others and the released bag remained hanging and entangled with the other bags. The pilot then released the second bag and attempted to make the bags drop. He then repeated this for six bags and eventually one bag remained connected to the runner with the other bags entangled and hanging from it.
The pilot elected to land the helicopter to untangle the bags. He manoeuvred the helicopter backwards down the slope to land on a more suitable site. When about 10 ft above the ground, the pilot manoeuvred slightly further to the right however the long-line became fully extended. As the line pulled taut it came directly out the left side of the helicopter from under the centre of the left skid. This caused the helicopter to roll to the right.
The main rotor blade collided with the ground before the pilot reached the long-line release switch. The helicopter rolled over and came to rest inverted, resulting in substantial damage to the helicopter and minor injuries to the pilot.
This incident demonstrates the importance of using equipment in accordance with established best practice. The operator advised that the bag runner is no longer to be used for bag layout operations; it is only to be used for bag retrieval/pick-up.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2014/aair/ao-2014-113.aspx
http://aerossurance.com/news/two-helicopter-accidents-australia-norway/
Media:
#OTD in 2014 A Bell 206 crashed at a seismic camp in Australia after a bag runner load became tangled https://t.co/abF7R78KCB #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety pic.twitter.com/KIhVmnnAtn
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) June 20, 2023
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Jul-2014 17:47 | Aerossurance | Added |
| 03-Sep-2014 07:55 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 09-Jun-2022 11:31 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 20-Jun-2023 12:06 | Aerossurance | Updated [[Location]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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