ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 34969
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| Date: | Friday 27 August 1999 |
| Time: | 10:15 LT |
| Type: |  Robinson R22B |
| Owner/operator: | Eirecopter Helicopters |
| Registration: | EI-MAC |
| MSN: | 1433 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1990 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Cornakelly, Moyne, County Longford -
 Ireland
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Weston Aerodrome, Dublin (EIWT) |
| Sligo Airport, Standhill, County Sligo (SXL/EISG) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIU |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On August 27, 1999, about 10:15 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), a Robinson R22B helicopter, EI-MAC, registered to Eirecopter Helicopter, impacted with the terrain and subsequently there was a post impact fire, following an in-flight event, while on a domestic personal flight, from Dublin, Ireland, to Sligo, Ireland, a distance of about 100 miles. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The helicopter was destroyed. The pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. The flight originated from Dublin, the same day, at an unknown time.
The flight was at a low cruise altitude, and the pilot had been in touch with air traffic control (ATC). While in radio contact with ATC the pilot did not report any problems. There were no witnesses to the crash, but witnesses that heard the helicopter before impact said the engine sounded fine. The helicopter impacted in a 2-acre field. Plexiglas from the helicopter was found in the field to the side of the wreckage. Weather was not considered a factor in the accident.
The pilot was availing of a partially free flight offered by the Operator on the successful completion of his Private Pilots Licence (PPL) - (Rotorcraft) in June 1999. The pilot planned to fly from Weston Aerodrome, Co. Kildare to Sligo Airport. While overflying Co. Longford, between the villages of Moyne and Ballinamuck, several eyewitnesses subsequently stated that they saw the helicopter at a relatively low altitude, 200-300 feet, with pieces falling from it.
Almost immediately after the last reported sighting the helicopter crashed into the middle of an open field. The aircraft was destroyed. There was post-impact fire. There were no survivors.
The main rotor blades struck the fuselage during flight, causing failure of the main rotor system and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. Possible factors contributing to this strike include:
-An abrupt and/or inadvertent and/or inappropriate control movement outside the helicopter's approved limitations leading to excessive flapping of the main rotor blades, rotor mast bumping and a strike of the blades on the fuselage.
-A main rotor blade stall resulting from an inappropriate response to a lowering of rotor RPM due either to engine carburettor icing or to a flight control action originating in the cockpit.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. AAIU IE: http://www.aaiu.ie/sites/default/files/report-attachments/2002-004%20EI-MAC_0.pdf
2. NTSB Identification: MIA99WA240 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20001212X19608&ntsbno=MIA99WA240&akey=1
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20091022061213/http://www.rotorspot.nl/ei.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Feb-2012 08:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Aug-2014 15:43 | Aerossurance | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 23-Sep-2016 23:02 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Dec-2017 21:03 | harro | Updated [Source] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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