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| Date: | Saturday 19 January 2019 |
| Time: | 15:05 LT |
| Type: |  Eurocopter EC 130B4 |
| Owner/operator: | Microflite Pty Ltd |
| Registration: | VH-YHS |
| MSN: | 4080 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Howqua, 19 km SSE of Mansfield, VIC -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Private property, Howqua, VIC |
| Moorabbin Airport, VIC (MBW/YMMB) | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The Eurocopter EC130 helicopter, registered VH-YHS, departed Moorabbin Airport for a private authorised landing area (ALA), 19 km south-south-east of Mansfield, Australia. The pilot and two passengers were on board for the private flight to a rural property and intended to conduct a return flight that afternoon.
At 11:15, after an uneventful flight, VH-YHS landed at the rural property.
Shortly before 15:00, the pilot and passengers returned to the helicopter. The helicopter was parked in an open area, facing south with a 0.5 m-high earth mound to its left. The pilot had undertaken five previous flights to the property in the helicopter in the previous 5 months.
After assisting the passengers to board the helicopter, the pilot conducted a walk-around and did not identify anything unusual. He then boarded and, following a normal engine start, carried out his take-off checks. As was his usual practice, he set the friction settings for both the cyclic and collective controls to minimum resistance. The wind was about 10 kt from the south-west (about 45° to the right of the helicopter), the sky was clear and it was approximately 30º C.
As the pilot increased to full power for take-off, he observed that the front right passenger had not put on her headset and signalled for her to do so. While he waited for her to put the headset on, keeping VH-YHS on the ground, he noticed the cabin temperature was 32 ºC and turned on the air-conditioning.
Shortly after 15:00, the pilot was again ready to take-off. He raised the helicopter off the ground, more rapidly than he normally did without getting the usual ‘fine balance’. At a height of about 3 m above the ground, the helicopter began to yaw to the left (turning counter-clockwise), seemingly pivoting about the tail and its attitude became progressively unstable.
The pilot applied inputs, mainly cyclic, to control the helicopter’s movement but the yaw increased.
The aircraft now seemed to be pivoting about the main rotor, moving closer to the trees and shed. The pilot recalled that the helicopter felt ‘unstable’ and moved the cyclic but did not get the response he expected. In seconds, the helicopter had turned through 360°. Unable to control the helicopter, the pilot decided to land and lowered the collective.
As the helicopter descended, its left skid contacted the mound, resulting in the helicopter pivoting around that skid and the main rotor blades striking the ground. The helicopter came to rest on its left side, facing the shed. The sequence, from lift-off to ground contact, occurred over about 5 seconds.
Findings:
- The pilot was unable to control VH-YHS yawing to the left after lifting off and decided to land. When the left skid of the descending helicopter contacted the ground, it rolled over and the
main rotor blades struck the ground, destroying the aircraft with the pilot sustaining minor injury.
- No mechanical issue with the helicopter was identified and the prevailing light wind did not contribute to the loss of control and subsequent collision.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.dindi.com.au/wp/2019/01/19/helicopter-crash-lands/
http://www.nafc.org.au/?page_id=271
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2019/aair/ao-2019-005/
https://www.regosearch.com/aircraft/au/YHS
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/9104998
Location
Media:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Jan-2019 09:48 | gerard57 | Added |
| 19-Jan-2019 09:49 | gerard57 | Updated [Total occupants, Location, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:02 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:04 | Aerossurance | Updated [Destination airport, Embed code, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:44 | Pineapple | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:45 | Bidgee | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:51 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Embed code, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:52 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Embed code, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:55 | Pineapple | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:57 | Pineapple | Updated [Embed code, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 10:59 | Pineapple | Updated [Location, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 11:19 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Phase, Departure airport, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 11:22 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 11:22 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 19-Jan-2019 23:37 | Geno | Updated [Location, Source, ] |
| 24-Jan-2019 20:05 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Location, Source, ] |
| 29-May-2020 13:26 | harro | Updated [Time, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 29-May-2020 13:27 | harro | Updated [Source, Accident report, ] |
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