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| Date: | Monday 13 January 2020 |
| Time: | 14:10 |
| Type: |  Bell 407 |
| Owner/operator: | Corporación Nacional Forestal de Chile (CONAF), lsd Ba |
| Registration: | CC-AEC |
| MSN: | 53599 |
| Engine model: | Rolls-Royce 250-C47B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Lautaro, Araucanía Region -
 Chile
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | DGAC Chile |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter sustained substantial damage after it hit the ground during forced landing when the engine failed during a fire fighting mission. The sole pilot onboard is in good condition.
CAUSE
Impact of the main rotor blades against the tail cone, during ground contact, due to an autorotation manoeuvre caused by engine stall in flight, due to an internal failure of the power turbine position detector fuse.
CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
1. Stretch-cutting of two wires of the frangible fuse electrical harness.
2. Thermal mismatch fracture of the epoxy resin inside the frangible fuse elbow.
3. Erroneous signal from the ECU, which caused the fuel flow to be cut off and consequently the engine to stop in flight at low altitude.
4. Failure to release the Bambi Bucket, which was loaded with water, during the autorotation manoeuvre, which increased the descent and speed during the emergency landing.
5. Bringing the cyclic backwards, during contact with the ground, in order to counteract the forward movement of the aircraft, impacting the main rotor blades against the tail cone, fracturing it.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.24horas.cl/regiones/araucania/helicoptero-de-conaf-se-estrello-mientras-combatia-incendio-en-la-region-de-la-araucania-3853977
https://www.meganoticias.cl/nacional/288109-accidente-helicoptero-aterrizaje-emergencia-conaf-rayenco-lautaro-incendio.html?utm_source=notificacionesPush&utm_medium=breaking-news-aterrizaje-de
https://www.t13.cl/noticia/nacional/captan-momento-helicoptero-conaf-se-cae-predio
https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/region-de-la-araucania/2020/01/13/helicoptero-de-conaf-sufre-rotura-de-su-cola-durante-combate-de-incendio-forestal-en-la-araucania.shtml
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/28553/
https://cdn.jetphotos.com/full/6/11363_1524853871.jpg (photo)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Jan-2020 22:14 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 14-Jan-2020 01:53 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, ] |
| 14-Jan-2020 17:56 | RobertMB | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, ] |
| 18-Feb-2021 20:38 | harro | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 18-Mar-2021 20:31 | harro | Updated [Time, Narrative, Category, Accident report, ] |
| 03-May-2021 11:56 | harro | Updated |
| 03-May-2021 12:03 | harro | Updated |
| 03-May-2021 12:04 | harro | Updated |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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