ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 220922
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| Date: | Monday 14 January 2019 |
| Time: | 11:34 UTC |
| Type: |  PZL-Swidnik W-3A Sokól |
| Owner/operator: | Kitz-Air GmbH |
| Registration: | OE-XKB |
| MSN: | 37.05.09 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Fieberbrunn -
 Austria
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | UUS Austria |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Due to the enormous snowfalls, an electricity network operator intended to carry out a safety inspection of the high-voltage supply lines from the air in the area of Fieberbrunn Eiserne Hand-Bürglkopf in Austria. The lateral trees were also to be cleared of snow. For this purpose, a contact was established with the helicopter company on 14 January 2019 at 07:30 hrs. A meeting point was arranged at the helicopter base on 14 January 2019 at around 09:20 hrs. In the meantime, the helicopter had been refuelled to a total quantity of approx. 1600 litres of Jet A1. During the pre-flight inspection, the helicopter was "drained" and no foreign matter such as water or other contamination was detected. The last flight took place on 12 January 2019. The helicopter was in the heated tent hangar since the last flight.
The pilot obtained the flight weather via his cell phone, an ATC flight plan was not filed. The helicopter took off from the helicopter base at 10:35 am. The pilot activated the "ENG & EAPS ANTI-ICE" system and activated the main and tail rotor blade de-icing in Manual Mode. The take-off went according to plan and without any complications. To the right of the pilot sat the responsible employee of the power supply company, who was "briefed" by the pilot before the flight. Behind the pilot sat the flight assistant.
The flight progressed via St. Johann in Tyrol to Fieberbrunn and from there to the “Eiserne Hand“. From there the path led further down the valley to the right of the power line road.
The helicopter flew about 15 - 20 m above the treetops. The helicopter then flew towards Bürglkopf on the right along the power lines, turned off at the end and flew back to the junction. It then flew down the left side of the power lines to clear them of snow.
Shortly after reaching the Almgasthof, the pilot noticed an abrupt drop in the helicopter’s performance. He was no longer able to maintain altitude, so he aligned the nose of the helicopter to the right and started forward motion with the stick to reach the later emergency landing area. The helicopter had a high sink rate. The pilot decided to land on the western side of the Almgasthof. When the helicopter touched down at around 11:34 a.m., it touched a tree on the left with its rotor blades. This damaged the main rotor blades.
The pilot brought the helicopter to a standstill by immediately setting the power levers to "0", thus interrupting the fuel supply. He did not use a rotor brake. The rotor then stopped automatically. The ELT was not triggered during this emergency landing.
Probable causes
• Failure of the right engine and loss of power at low altitude above GND.
• Technically forced emergency landing with tree contact at the emergency landing field.
Probable factors
• Pre-existing technical defects in the engine anti-icing system of the right engine.
• Ice build-up in the area of the fairings near the engine air intakes.
• Ice was sucked in by the compressor, which subsequently led to the failure of the power unit.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://tirol.orf.at/news/stories/2958648/
https://www.tt.com/panorama/unfall/15217816/hubschrauber-in-fieberbrunn-notgelandet-und-schwer-beschaedigt
https://www.kitzanzeiger.at/Kontrollierte-Hubschraubernotlandung-am-Buerglkopf_pid,17070,nid,106476,type,newsdetail.html
https://tirol.orf.at/news/stories/2959891/
http://kitz-air.com/en/transport-flights/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z85JNQpZC78 (video)
https://www.bmvit.gv.at/dam/jcr:a941b42b-b733-4ee3-854c-cccbe8239dba/190114_zb_sokol_85267.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 18-Jan-2019 20:29 | Investigator | Added |
| 18-Jan-2019 23:56 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 22-Jan-2019 12:44 | Investigator | Updated [Source] |
| 07-Jan-2020 18:40 | Investigator | Updated [Source] |
| 25-Sep-2021 18:40 | harro | Updated [Time, Category] |
| 02-Jan-2022 10:11 | harro | Updated [Narrative, Accident report] |
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