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| Date: | Monday 9 March 2015 |
| Time: | 17:15 LT |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Government of La Rioja |
| Registration: | LQ-CGK |
| MSN: | 7041 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2010 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Villa Castelli, Rioja province -
 Argentina
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | JIAAC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Two helicopters experienced a midair collision near Villa Castelli in La Rioja province. Both aircraft were destroyed and the ten occupants of the two helicopters were fatally injured.
The two helicopters were local government operated aircraft being utilized for the filming of the French TV reality survival show Dropped.
In an operation classified as aerial work, which involved the transport of
passengers and air-air filming activity, there was an in-flight collision between
the two participating aircrafts. The collision was caused by the combination of
the following factors:
- Location of the helicopter that was filming (LQ-FJQ), from the “outside”, in the path of both aircrafts, that significantly limited the visual contact of the pilot who had to move forward in flight in order to film the target (LQCGK);
- Lack of a formal assessment of the safety risks for an unusual operation (filming and flight in proximity), which prevented the identification and analysis of the dangers inherent to that operation, and the adoption of mitigation actions, requirement not required by the current regulations;
- Deficiencies in the operation planning that led to the accident, including the failure of observing the “see and be seen” concept or an evasive maneuver if visual contact is lost between both aircrafts;
- Lack of formal procedures in accordance with the nature of the operations performed;
- The use of aircrafts whose public identification prefix does not imply providing logistics and aerial support for filming of a completely private nature;
- Ambiguity in the observance of regulations related to air operations of public aircrafts;
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/67186780/ten-dead-in-double-helicopter-crash-in-argentina
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/10/10-dead-after-2-helicopters-crash-in-northwest-argentina.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-31809231
https://www.yahoo.com/news/2-helicopters-crash-northwest-argentina-10-dead-224126618.html?.gg_invalid=true
https://aerospotter.blogspot.de/2015/03/accidente-en-la-rioja.html
https://www.infobae.com/2015/03/10/1714935-video-asi-fue-el-accidente-helicopteros-la-rioja/ (video)
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/video-poor-communication-between-pilots-in-argentina-helicopter-409982/
http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/2015/2015.semaine.11.pdf
http://aerossurance.com/news/tv-helicopter-accident/
https://www.jiaac.gob.ar/files/88-15.pdf
http://www.france24.com/en/20151217-pilot-error-crash-french-sports-stars-argentina-reality-television
Location
Media:
#OTD in 2015: The fatal mid air collision of two helicopters during the filming of a TV programme in Argentina highlights the importance or risk assessment and planning.https://t.co/p3rRGyUvcU #aviationsafety #flightsafety #helicopter #accident pic.twitter.com/DpqXVqshpO
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) March 9, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Mar-2015 05:54 | Geno | Added |
| 10-Mar-2015 06:08 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Nature, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 10-Mar-2015 07:08 | Buffalo Joe | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Source, ] |
| 10-Mar-2015 07:10 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, ] |
| 10-Mar-2015 07:11 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, ] |
| 10-Mar-2015 14:45 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 10-Mar-2015 21:21 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, ] |
| 18-Mar-2015 09:22 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, ] |
| 17-Dec-2015 17:29 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 17-Dec-2015 22:43 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Dec-2015 12:42 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code, ] |
| 30-Dec-2015 13:42 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, ] |
| 09-Mar-2021 07:51 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Nature, Embed code, ] |
| 23-May-2021 14:17 | harro | Updated [Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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