ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 248616
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Sunday 7 March 2021 |
| Time: | 18:00 |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350B Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Dolijet |
| Registration: | F-GIBM |
| MSN: | 1424 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Touques, Calvados, Normandy -
 France
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Touque private helipad |
| Beauvais private helipad | |
| Investigating agency: | BEA |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A helicopter crashed soon after take-off from a private property. The pilot and lone passenger died in the crash.
The deceased passenger has been identified as Olivier Dassault, heir of late Serge Dassault, himself son of Marcel Dassault, founder of Dassault Aviation.
Conclusion:
The loss of control of the helicopter during the take-off was the result of the main rotor blades colliding with a tree situated close to the helicopter’s take-off spot. The manoeuvring area on the HLS, chosen the day before the accident when landing, restricted the possibilities of safely manoeuvring. This choice probably pushed the pilot to carry out a vertical take-off with a small safety margin with respect to the tree branches which were in the shade.
The assessment of the distance to the obstacles may have been difficult in a shaded environment with low light contrast. In particular, the following factors may have contributed to difficulties in detecting the tree branches which were in the shade:
-The pilot not wearing corrective lenses.
-A sensitivity to contrasts attenuated by age.
In the absence of criteria regarding distances to obstacles to be taken into account not only when manoeuvring on a HLS but also when training in using confined areas, pilots may not have safety references when using unprepared and confined areas.
It was not possible to determine if the piloting was performed in the scope of an instruction flight and who had the helicopter controls during the take-off.
What is more, the passenger was wearing tinted glasses which was not likely to facilitate the detection of objects in low contrast and low light situations.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.ouest-france.fr/normandie/touques-14800/normandie-accident-d-helicoptere-pres-de-deauville-deux-personnes-decedees-7178145
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-people-dassault-idUKKBN2AZ0MB
https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/normandie/calvados/caen/le-depute-olivier-dassault-est-decede-dans-un-accident-d-helicoptere-a-touques-1987195.html
https://www.bea.aero/en/investigation-reports/notified-events/detail/accident-to-the-airbus-as350-registered-f-gibm-on-07-03-2021-at-touques/
https://www.societe.com/societe/dolijet-879918142.html
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 26 April 1982 | N5784Y | Air-Op, Inc. | 0 | Houston, TX |  |
sub |
Location
Images:
Photo: Alan Wilson, 9 June 2019 at Aérodrome de Cerny-La-Ferté-Alais
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Mar-2021 18:36 | JulietBravo | Added |
| 07-Mar-2021 18:36 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
| 07-Mar-2021 18:45 | JulietBravo | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Source] |
| 07-Mar-2021 18:45 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Other fatalities] |
| 07-Mar-2021 19:18 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source] |
| 07-Mar-2021 19:21 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Damage, Photo] |
| 07-Mar-2021 19:34 | harro | Updated [Time] |
| 07-Mar-2021 19:46 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 07-Mar-2021 19:58 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Source, Embed code] |
| 09-Mar-2021 19:16 | Aerossurance | Updated [Embed code] |
| 13-Mar-2021 18:04 | harro | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code] |
| 21-Aug-2023 12:00 | Anon. | Updated [[Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code]] |
| 21-Aug-2023 12:02 | harro | Updated [[[Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code]]] |
| 29-Sep-2023 10:07 | harro | Updated [[[[Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code]]]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation