ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 265297
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| Date: | Thursday 17 December 2020 |
| Time: | 15:30 UTC |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 I Clipper |
| Owner/operator: | ECU Flash Ltd |
| Registration: | G-CLIO |
| MSN: | 0742 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2000 |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-540-F1B5 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Private landing site, Holmfirth, North Yorkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Walton Wood Airfield, Pontefract, West Yorkshire (AG-1566) |
| Private landing site, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
AAIB investigation to Robinson R44 Clipper I, G-CLIO: Hard landing in field, private landing site, Holmfirth, North Yorkshire**, 17 December 2020. The AAIB Final Report was published on 8 July 2021, and the following is an excerpt from it...
"The pilot had planned to take two passengers to visit his friend at a farm in Holmfirth, where he intended to land in a nearby field. He was aware of obstacles near the field such as trees, power lines and sloping ground, but he intended to make an out-of-ground-effect (OGE) hover to allow him to assess the landing spot visually before landing.
The take off at 14:35 hrs and the 20 minute VFR flight to Holmfirth were uneventful. The pilot identified the destination field and completed two overflights to assess his landing point. He observed the overhead domestic power lines running alongside the southern edge of the field and a wind turbine nearby, indicating the wind direction
He made a steep approach to clear the power lines, but realised he was running out of room to land and raised the collective lever to slow down. He found there was insufficient power to arrest his descent and with about 6 ft of height remaining, the low rpm warning horn sounded and the rpm warning light illuminated. The helicopter yawed through 180° before striking the ground hard in a flat, slightly tail down attitude.
The pilot switched off the fuel valve, disengaged the clutch and turned the master switch off. He applied the rotor brake and he and his passengers vacated the aircraft. There was no fuel leak and no fire.
=Accident site=
The aircraft had landed in a part of the field where the ground was undulating, sloping and boggy. To the east and west of the field were ridge lines with a wind turbine situated to the south and power lines positioned to the south and south-east.
There were ground impact marks directly below the tail rotor where the blades had hit the soft, grassed surface. The tail rotor blades were bent and twisted and one of them had broken off near the root.
The vertical stabiliser, tail rotor guard and tail skid were damaged and disrupted. A large hole had been made in the left side of the tail boom where the tail rotor had punctured the skin and struck the tail rotor shaft, which had sheared. The landing skids were bent upwards and outwards and were partially disrupted. There was evidence of yielding of the cockpit seat structure and keel panels, and the lower belly of the aircraft was damaged.
In the cockpit, the engine fuel mixture control was found pushed in and guarded, and the carb-heat lever was unlatched and pulled halfway out."
=Damage To Airframe=
Per the above AAIB Report: "Tail rotor shaft fractured, tail rotor damaged, damage to skids and belly of the aircraft". The damage sustained was severe enough for the CAA to de-register the aircraft on 26 April 2021 as " Transferred to another country or authority. To: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". The registration N904YK was allocated on May 10 2021, to Sky Solutions LLC of Wayne County, Michigan to a Robinson R44 with the MSN 0742 (see link #3)
**Note that the AAIB is incorrect in stating that the accident site was in "North Yorkshire". Holmfirth is in Kirklees, which is in WEST Yorkshire.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIB Final Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60c225ad8fa8f57ce78d4c91/Robinson_R44_Clipper_I_G-CLIO_07-21.pdf
2. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-CLIO.html
3. https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=904YK
4. https://yorkshirehelicopters.co.uk/flying-by-helicopter-to-france-yorkshire-to-dijon-by-r44/
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmfirth
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jul-2021 18:02 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 10-Jul-2021 08:36 | harro | Updated [Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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