Date:	Friday 5 August 2016
Time:	11:00 LT
Type:	Robinson R44 Raven
Owner/operator:	Southport Golf Complex Ltd
Registration:	G-RFUN
MSN:	1239
Year of manufacture:	2002
Engine model:	Lycoming O-540-F1B5
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Woodhead Pass, Crowden, near Glossop, Derbyshire -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Coal Aston Airfield, Summerley, Derbyshire
Destination airport:	Woodhead Pass, Crowden, near Glossop, Derbyshire
Investigating agency:	AAIB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
AAIB investigation to Robinson R44 Raven, G-RFUN: Helicopter landed heavily and rolled onto its side, near Crowden, Glossop, Derbyshire, 5 August 2016. Helicopter came down at The Boar Clay Shooting Ground, The Paper Mill, Woodhead Pass, Crowden, near Glossop, Derbyshire (just off the B6105 road).

The helicopter took off at close to its maximum weight. It then flew to a hilly area, where the pilot made a downwind approach, with full carburettor heat applied, to an Out-of-Ground-Effect (OGE) hover. The manufacturer’s performance figures show this to be outside the declared flight envelope of the helicopter. The helicopter was unable to sustain the hover and descended, probably entering a vortex ring state, before it landed heavily and rolled onto its side. The occupants escaped from the aircraft with one passenger sustaining a minor injury.

UPDATE: The official AAIB report into the accident was published on 12/01/2017, and the following is an extract from that report:

"Following a successful start-up at the second attempt, the helicopter, with three passengers, lifted from Coal Aston Airfield (elevation 720 feet amsl), 5 nautical miles south of Sheffield. The pilot reported that he flew a vertical takeoff, climbing to a height of around 50 feet, before he transitioned the helicopter into forward flight.

Approximately 15 minutes later, the helicopter arrived at a boar shooting ground, where the pilot intended to hover, so they could wave at some friends. The boar shooting ground is in the Peak District National Park at approximately 1,000 feet amsl. The pilot flew over the selected site and circled whilst losing height. He then made an approach, with full carburettor heat applied, on an easterly heading, and reportedly came to a hover with 23 inches of power, at a height of 70 feet agl.

The pilot reported that after 2 or 3 seconds in the hover, he looked inside the helicopter to check the instruments; when he looked back outside, the helicopter was sinking. He raised the collective lever, but this had little effect and they continued to sink. Realising he was now too low to fly away, the pilot made the decision to try and land, on uneven ground to his right. He lowered the collective lever and yawed the helicopter to face into the hill, then pulled the collective back up to cushion the touchdown.

The helicopter landed heavily on the front of its skids and then rolled onto its right-hand side before coming to a halt. The pilot and his passengers, were able to vacate the helicopter by climbing through the left doors, although the passengers on the left (upper) side needed some assistance in undoing their seat belts. The front seat passenger had a small cut to his head, but the rest of the occupants, though shaken, were unhurt.

The pilot made the helicopter safe, by turning off the fuel and the electrics, and was then able to see ground marks which indicated to him that it had probably rolled onto its side when one of the main rotor blades had struck the ground."

=Nature of Damage sustained to airframe=
Per the AAIB report "Aircraft destroyed". As a result, the registration G-RFUN was cancelled by the CAA on 23/08/2016 as "Permanently Withdrawn from Use"

Crowden (also known as Crowden-in-Longdendale) is a hamlet in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, England. Historically a part of Cheshire, Crowden was incorporated into Derbyshire for administrative and ceremonial purposes in 1974 and is now Derbyshire's most northerly settlement. It lies in the Longdendale valley, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) north-east of Glossop and 5.7 miles (9.2 km) south-west of Holme in West Yorkshire.

1. Air traffic control transmissions.
2. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/58496999ed915d0aeb000060/Robinson_R44_Raven_G-RFUN_01-17.pdf
3. https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/police-and-ambulance-called-to-helicopter-crash-near-sheffield-1-8054097
4. http://www.boarclayshootingground.co.uk/
5. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/45197/
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowden,_Derbyshire

BREAKING: Police and ambulance called to helicopter crash near Sheffield: https://t.co/YDWD8vrhMp pic.twitter.com/y7zKUEKxLu

— Alex Charles Evans (@AlexanderCEvans) August 5, 2016

There was a helicopter crash on Woodhead in #Glossop this afternoon.https://t.co/lMkoAKyOnr pic.twitter.com/26BVBBsqFW

— Glossop Chronicle (@newsinglossop) August 5, 2016

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Aug-2016 16:00	NearBye	Added
05-Aug-2016 16:39	harro	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, ]
05-Aug-2016 17:53	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Source, ]
05-Aug-2016 17:53	gerard57	Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Nature, Source, Damage, ]
05-Aug-2016 17:53	harro	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Source, ]
05-Aug-2016 17:57	harro	Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative, ]
05-Aug-2016 18:16	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]
05-Aug-2016 18:21	Dr.John Smith	Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, ]
05-Aug-2016 18:54	Aerossurance	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, ]
06-Aug-2016 06:56	CTYONE	Updated [Aircraft type, ]
15-Aug-2016 18:31	Anon.	Updated [Damage, ]
15-Aug-2016 18:33	harro	Updated [Narrative, ]
12-Jan-2017 12:33	Aerossurance	Updated [Phase, Source, Narrative, ]
15-Jan-2017 20:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ]
15-Jan-2017 20:27	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, ]
15-Jan-2017 20:28	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative, ]
22-Apr-2024 07:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative, Category, ]