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| Date: | Saturday 15 May 2021 |
| Time: | 11:30 LT |
| Type: |  Mil Mi-8MTV-1 |
| Owner/operator: | Hevilift |
| Registration: | P2-MHM |
| MSN: | 95881 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1992 |
| Engine model: | Klimov TV3-117 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Gobo -
 Papua New Guinea
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | Gobo |
| Mount Hagen | |
| Investigating agency: | AIC PNG |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A Mi-8 helicopter registered P2-MHM, owned by Captston Aviation and operated by Hevilift Aviation Ltd., took-off from Gobo, Jiwaka Province, on a cargo flight to Mount Hagen, carrying 75 bags of coffee.
After vertical take-off to hover, there was a low rotor RPM indication, causing the flight crew to bring the helicopter back to the ground. Upon contact with the ground, there would have been a loss of control of the helicopter, which subsequently rolled over, impacting its tail boom and main rotor blades with the ground.
The helicopter came to rest in an upside-down position.
There were four persons on board the aircraft, two flight crew, one flight engineer and one load master. Reportedly, one of the occupants suffered minor injuries and the rest were uninjured.The helicopter was destroyed as a result of the forces of impact.
Causes [Contributing factors]
The helicopter accident occurred due to uncorrected loss of tail rotor authority.
The loss of tail rotor authority resulted from the helicopter being significantly heavier than permitted for its hover out of ground effect.
The crew did not weigh the cargo, nor did they complete pre-takeoff weight and balance calculations to provide assurance of the helicopter being within prescribed limits for both HIGE48 and HOGE49.
Crew Resource Management was inadequate. Communication between the flight crew was ineffective
through their use of non-standard terms and phrases leading to ambiguity.
The co-pilot, the pilot flying, did not immediately alert the PIC of the uncommanded left yaw.
The PIC issued instructions that were contrary to effective yaw mitigation.
Lack of training and lack of proficiency resulted in the crew not taking timely appropriate action to
mitigate the unsafe situation.
Other factors
The investigation found non-contributing safety deficiencies. These are addressed in the factual and
safety recommendations.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.aic.gov.pg/news
PNG Pilot's facebook page
Images:
Photo: PNG AIC
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-May-2021 10:58 | Petropavlovsk | Added |
| 16-May-2021 11:01 | harro | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 16-May-2021 11:03 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Photo, ] |
| 10-May-2023 06:43 | harro | Updated |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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