ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 231559
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| Date: | Tuesday 26 February 2019 |
| Time: | 16:31 UTC |
| Type: |  Eurocopter EC 135T1 |
| Owner/operator: | Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) |
| Registration: | VP-CPS |
| MSN: | 0107 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1999 |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca Arrius 2B1A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Owen Roberts Int Airport, Grand Cayman -
 Cayman Islands
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Grand Cayman Island-Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM/MWCR) |
| Grand Cayman Island-Owen Roberts International Airport (GCM/MWCR) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
At the start of a ‘training and search’ detail in the Cayman Islands, the pilot lifted the helicopter to a height of approximately four feet and felt the cyclic control stick shake and exert a rearwards force. He immediately lowered the collective lever and the helicopter landed heavily, sustaining damage to the tail boom, landing gear and transmission deck.
A subsequent inspection of the helicopter revealed the longitudinal axis of the main rotor actuator had failed. A tie bar within the actuator had suffered pitting corrosion, leading to intercrystalline corrosion and cracking which resulted in overload failure of the remaining material. It is possible that moisture penetrated into the actuator and allowed the tie bar to corrode. The environment conditions of the Cayman Islands may have contributed to the corrosion. Safety actions have been taken to ensure the continued airworthiness of the worldwide fleet and to review the design of the actuator to prevent moisture ingress.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/ec135-flying-control-failure/
https://www.gov.uk/aaib-reports/aaib-investigation-to-ec135t1-vp-cps
Media:
1 year ago today, our world changed. The EC135 that was our faithful servant for 9 years suffered catrostrophic control failure on lifting. If ever you see an advert for the integrity of a fenestron, this is it. Never forget your roots, as we are now a Caribbean wide H145 Unit pic.twitter.com/IPt50BGeXP
— X-Ray One (@XRayOneCayman) February 26, 2020
An accident to a police helicopter in the Caribbean resulted in a worldwide check for corrosion in flying control actuators.https://t.co/ymmVVgiXXv #flightsafety #airworthiness pic.twitter.com/HdbaSfWISU
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) February 1, 2020
EC135 Main Rotor Actuator Tie-Bar Failure https://t.co/ymmVVgiXXv #police #helicopter #accident #flightsafety #aviationsafety #airworthiness #aviationmaintenance pic.twitter.com/VrmcHnh85K
— Aerossurance (@Aerossurance) January 27, 2021
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Dec-2019 18:06 | harro | Added |
| 19-Dec-2019 18:07 | harro | Updated [Total occupants, Location, Nature, Destination airport] |
| 01-Feb-2020 01:21 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 01-Feb-2020 02:11 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code] |
| 27-Feb-2020 08:05 | harro | Updated [Embed code, Accident report, ] |
| 27-Jan-2021 08:26 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code, Accident report] |
| 24-Dec-2021 17:50 | harro | Updated [Embed code, Accident report] |
| 30-Apr-2022 13:37 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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