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| Date: | Monday 5 June 2000 |
| Time: | 07:30 |
| Type: |  Agusta A109K2 |
| Owner/operator: | Viamax Fleet Management |
| Registration: | ZS-RRB |
| MSN: | 10035 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1998 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | MV Ambassador, off Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Offshore |
| Departure airport: | Richards Bay |
| Richards Bay | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 4 June 2000 at approximately 0630Z the personnel at Balmoral Central Contracts received a call to transport a passenger (marine pilot), by helicopter, to an incoming ship. The helicopter, with the crew consisting of the pilot-in-command, a co-pilot as an observer pilot and a flight engineer/winchman, departed the Balmoral premises in order to collect the passenger (marine pilot) (from the Richards Bay harbor) for the transfer. During the approach the helicopter pilot contacted the ship (Ambassador) and informed the captain that he is en-route to the ship. The helicopter approached the ship from the East and flew along the right hand side of the ship in order for the pilot to inspect the landing area. The landing area was clearly marked on the hatch cover and the pilot identified it by the letter 'H'? inside a circle. The pilot then circled and approached the landing area from the North-North-East, for the landing. Throughout the approach and landing the pilot and the engineer confirmed that there was no one near the landing area. After landing the passenger (marine pilot) disembarked the helicopter and cleared the landing area to the right hand corner of the hatch/landing area and climbed down onto the deck of the ship. Just prior to take-off the pilot experienced a severe vibration and at the same time the engineer told the pilot to shut down the engines as one of the ship's crewmembers had walked into the tail rotor. PROBABLE CAUSE: The most probable cause for this accident can be attributed to the fact that the 3rd officer attempted to pass underneath the tailboom of the helicopter and at the last second saw the antennae and tried to avoid it, causing him to contact the tail rotor blades.
NOTE: SA CAA state the date of occurrence as both 4 June & 5 June in their report.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
S.A. CAA
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 3 September 2005 | ZS-RRB | Viamax Fleet Management | 1 | MV Aloha Afovos, off Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Aug-2025 08:36 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Phase, Nature, ] |
| 05-Aug-2025 08:49 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Damage, Narrative, ] |
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