ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 230010
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| Date: | Sunday 21 February 2010 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale SA-318 Alouette II |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | F-GLXL |
| MSN: | 1612 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1961 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Tampon -
 Reunion
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Grand Bassin Heliport |
| Pont d'Yves Heliport | |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Grand Bassin helipad flight (974) - Pont d'Yves helipad (974).
The pilot takes off from the bottom of the ravine in order to take three friends to the top of the latter. He explained that after approximately five minutes of flight, he approached the destination helipad, perpendicular to the terrain with a low forward speed. As he flew over the precipice, about four meters above the level of the helipad and about five meters from the edge of the ravine, he perceived a sinking of the helicopter. He continued the landing going straight ahead and the helicopter crashed on the helipad a few meters from the edge of the ravine. The pilot adds that he did not feel any loss of engine power and did not see the power limit warning activate. He did not detect any particular technical failure during his approach.
The helipad is located on private property at the edge of the ravine at an altitude of about one thousand meters. An area in the shape of a semi-circle ten meters in radius was cleared in the middle of a field of fodder canes. The ground is rocky. There is no windsock. The wreckage is grouped together and is resting on its skids. The tail boom is severed between the stabilizer and the RAC. The end of the tail boom was found in the slope of the gully. The main gearbox separated from the airframe, was thrown forward and partially passed through the cockpit of the helicopter. No technical anomaly was highlighted during the investigation carried out by the gendarmerie.
The helicopter was within the weight and balance range defined by the manufacturer. The mass of the helicopter was estimated at 1,380 kg. In the conditions on the day of the accident, the maximum take-off weight out of ground effect determined from the flight manual is 1,480 kg.
Given the terrain and the location of the various meteorological stations (temperature assessed on site at 28°C, altitude of approximately 1,000 meters), it was not possible to precisely determine the strength and direction of the wind. The nearest station recorded an average wind of 260° at 7 kt. Several witnesses who arrived at the scene shortly after the accident confirmed that the wind was light.
The pilot's experience is approximately 470 hours of helicopter flight, including 400 on Alouette 2. He used to land on this helipad.
The causes of the accident could not be identified. The trajectory followed by the pilot, facing the terrain, did not allow him to clear to one side when he felt the helicopter sink. This loss of lift may have been caused by a weak tailwind, the helicopter being close to its maximum weight with a low forward speed.
Sources:
https://bea.aero/les-enquetes/evenements-notifies/?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=searchResult&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5BfacetAction%5D=add&tx_news_pi1%5BfacetTitle%5D=year_intS&tx_news_pi1%5BfacetValue%5D=2010&cHash=6c9967140c73fb5a055d7a58479b6868
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Oct-2019 09:15 | gerard57 | Added |
| 17-Oct-2019 17:38 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 09-Nov-2022 07:07 | EUGENIO GRIGORJEV | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Nov-2022 07:09 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type] |
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