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| Date: | Saturday 10 March 2018 |
| Time: | 16:00 |
| Type: |  Agusta AW139 |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | VH-... |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Townsville Airport (YBTL), Garbutt, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | Taxi |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | ATSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
An AW139 helicopter was ground-taxiing to its parking area when it struck a maintenance work stand with the main rotor blades. At the time of the impact, the helicopter was being positioned short of the refuelling area to allow another aircraft to utilise it.
The helicopter was travelling at a slow walking pace when the impact occurred. The impact was felt as a vibration through the rotor system and had no effect on the fuselage or forward movement. The crew conducted a normal shutdown.
Post-flight, engineers inspected numerous components of the helicopter. Damage was isolated to the tip cap assemblies of the main rotor blades.
Sources:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/occurrence-briefs/2018/aviation/ab-2018-035/
https://aerossurance.com/helicopters/aw139-mrb-strike-mx-stand
Location
Media:
#OTD 2018: Stopping short of its parking space due to another aircraft being refuelled, this helicopter struck a maintenance stand. ATSB share their safety message. https://t.co/BfhqN5gorr #helicopter #airportoperations #flightsafety #aviationsafety #humanfactors pic.twitter.com/6GkCA3C2XM
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) March 10, 2024
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Apr-2019 14:41 | Pineapple | Added |
| 12-Nov-2023 18:18 | harro | Updated [Other fatalities, ] |
| 04-Oct-2025 11:55 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
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