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| Date: | Saturday 4 April 2015 |
| Time: | 16:54 LT |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 365N3 Dauphin 2 |
| Owner/operator: | Solaire Helicopter |
| Registration: | 9M-IGB |
| MSN: | 6374 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Semenyih, Selangor -
 Malaysia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Kuantan |
| WMSA | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Six people, including several VIPs were on board a private helicopter that crashed in Semenyih, Kajang on Saturday. As of 8:15pm Malaysian time, 4th of April, approximately 4 hours after the crash, all six bodies had been removed from the crash site. Four local occupants were guests at the wedding luncheon of the daughter of the Prime Minister in his hometown of Pekan, Kuantan earlier. The pilot was American (owner of Solaire Helicopter) and a 6th person Kyrgyzstani, a friend of the piot.
A pilot of another helicopter, an EC155, flying from the south, who was earlier in communication and on visual contact with the ill-fated helicopter, saw it entering into a steep dive to the ground followed by black smoke. The helicopter altitude based on the TCAS of EC 155 was estimated to be at approximately 1,700 feet. Upon observing the helicopter had crashed to the ground, the pilot of the EC155 made a radio call on the operating frequency and informed the sighting to Lumpur Information. There was no distress call made by the crew of the ill-fated helicopter on any of the operating frequency.
The CVFDR was been be sent to UK AAIB for download.
In May 2015 it was reported that:
"Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the left stabiliser may have sustained damage when it landed in a football field at Sekolah Rendah Ladang Kota Bahagia as the helicopter tilted about 13 degrees to the left when its left landing gear sunk approximately 20 inches into the soft ground.
The report also determined that the helicopter was leaking hydraulic fluid excessively, which the pilot expressed concern about as recorded in the voice recorder but did not inspect further before taking off after dropping a passenger there.
Liow said the left stabiliser, which is crucial for the investigation, had yet to be recovered and appealed to the villagers living near the crash site to contact authorities immediately should they come across the object."
The final report was published on 9 September 2016.
The cause of the accident was due to the separation of the left horizontal stabiliser in flight causing the helicopter to dive and bank to the right exceeding its flight envelope. The main rotor blades subsequently
severed the tail boom and severed parts of the air frame resulting in the accident.
The following factors contributed to the accident:
a) Unplanned landing at an open field causing the left main landing gear to sink into loose soil. The vertical fin attached to the LH horizontal stabiliser contacted the soil and subsequently fracture the inboard root of the LH horizontal stabiliser.
b) Failure of the pilot to conduct detailed damage assessment of the left main landing gear knowing presence of excessive oil leak and damages to other parts of the helicopter.
c) A descending high cruising speed compounded with landing gears down would aerodynamically put excessive loads on the fractured left horizontal stabiliser.
d) Passenger intervention to pilot to return home on several occasions could create peer pressure on the pilot to rush for flying home.
Sources:
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/04/04/chopper-crash-six-people-on-board/
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/04/04/chopper-crash-all-bodies-retrieved/
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2015/04/05/semenyih-tragedy-igb-corp-robert-tan-not-a-victim/
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/107761
http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/2015/2015.semaine.14.pdf
http://english.astroawani.com/malaysia-news/helicopter-crash-aidanas-remains-claimed-family-57520
https://www.malaymail.com/s/877415/black-box-data-from-chopper-crash-inconclusive-says-report
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/kyrgyzstan-woman-in-heli-crash-involved-in-flight-operations-says-paper
http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/29-4-tile/553612-damaged-left-stabiliser-suspected-to-be-cause-of-semenyih-copter-crash.html
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/as365n3-9m-igb-investigation/
http://9m-igb.mot.gov.my/download/AircraftAccidentReport.pdf
http://www.mot.gov.my/SiteCollectionDocuments/kemalangan%20udara/9M-IGB%20Final%20Report%2008092016%20latest.pdf
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 10 May 1993 | XA-RTL | ASESA | 0 | Izucar de Matamoros, Puebla |  |
w/o |
Media:
#OTD 2015 Fatal in-flight break-up following damage during a prior landing shows the importance of not 'pressing on' and resisting passenger pressures.https://t.co/eMVPle5N2i #helicopter #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety pic.twitter.com/q2kdV34dNz
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) April 4, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Apr-2015 12:20 | kraznyoctbyar | Added |
| 04-Apr-2015 13:07 | CTYONE | Updated [Total fatalities, ] |
| 04-Apr-2015 15:08 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, ] |
| 04-Apr-2015 16:37 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2015 16:45 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2015 17:30 | Tony Yew | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 05-Apr-2015 07:57 | Anon. | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 05-Apr-2015 11:40 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 06-Apr-2015 19:29 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 08-Apr-2015 22:50 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 14-Apr-2015 13:28 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 15-Apr-2015 07:09 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Source, ] |
| 14-May-2015 14:13 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 30-Jul-2015 21:27 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 11-Sep-2016 08:23 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 11-Sep-2016 08:24 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 11-Sep-2016 08:41 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative, ] |
| 11-Sep-2016 09:56 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2021 09:15 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code, ] |
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