ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 23826
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| Date: | Tuesday 30 December 2003 |
| Time: | 15:45 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 |
| Owner/operator: | Etoile SNC Loc 17 |
| Registration: | F-OIAI |
| MSN: | 0800 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2000 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Location: | Kaala-Gomen, North Province -
 New Caledonia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Koumac, New Caledonia |
| Nouméa-Magenta Airport (GEA/NWWM) | |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot, accompanied by two friends, took off from Koumac bound for Noumea. He explained that fifteen minutes after takeoff, at an altitude of seven hundred feet and a speed of one hundred and ten knots, he heard a whistle, which amplified, and then perceived vibrations of the cyclic control and the cell. He began an emergency descent and landed in a field. On landing, the blades of the tail rotor struck a shrub. Inspecting the helicopter on the ground, the pilot finds, in addition to the damage to the tail rotor blades, that one of the main rotor blades has a deformation of the upper surface.
The surface of the main rotor blades and tail rotor showed significant signs of wear (erosion) at the leading edge, leaving the bare metal. On one of the main rotor blades, about a meter from its end, the metal coating of the upper surface was torn perpendicular to the leading edge. On both sides of this tear, the coating was peeled off about twenty inches along the joint with the leading edge.
The examination of the blade shows that it suffered excessive wear. The lack of material resulting from erosion is likely caused by the friction of the blade in an abrasive atmosphere (such as sand, for example).
As the upper surface plating was thinned, a crack developed parallel to the chord and then progressing aft of the leading edge spar continued to develop parallel to it. The aerodynamic depression then favored the detachment of the front of the sheet, then resulting in a mechanical action of peeling of this sheet under the effect of the relative wind (around 550 km/h). The beginning of detachment then led to the formation of a small cavity and the front edge rose under the effect of a scooping phenomenon.
The raised pieces of sheet metal caused a local modification of the lift and the drag of the profile generating the noise and the vibrations perceived by the pilot.
The potential of the main rotor blades guaranteed by the manufacturer is 2,200 hours. The blade in question had a total of 1,492 hours of use. It had flown ninety-six hours since the last hundred-hour check. During the previous fifty-hour check no anomaly had been noted.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. https://www.bea.aero/docspa/2003/f-ai031230/htm/f-ai031230.html
2. http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2003/f-ai031230/pdf/f-ai031230.pdf
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20120928112413/http://www.immat.aviation-civile.gouv.fr:80/immat/servlet/aeronef_liste.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaala-Gomen
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 20-Jan-2012 21:06 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 24-Aug-2016 21:07 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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