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| Date: | Saturday 17 February 2024 |
| Time: | c 10:25 LT |
| Type: |  AgustaWestland AW139 |
| Owner/operator: | Honda Airways |
| Registration: | JA03FD |
| MSN: | 41274 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Honda Airport, Kawajima, Hiki, Saitama -
 Japan
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Test |
| Departure airport: | Honda Airport, Kawajima |
| Honda Airport, Kawajima | |
| Investigating agency: | JTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
An AW139 operated by Honda Airways was on a test flight for hoist system when the hoist cable and attached weight (35 cm in diameter, 35 cm height and weights 135 kg) were inadvertently fallen down at Honda Airport, Kawajima, Hiki, Saitama, at 344 feet (105 m) AGL. Fallen objects were located beside the runway.
No reported injuries and ground damage.
Honda Airways operates JA03FD for Saitama Disaster Prevention Air Squadron.
PROBABLE CAUSES
The JTSB concludes that the probable cause of this serious incident was that the load test was conducted most likely without the cable properly attached to the drum when it was replaced, causing the cable to come loose from the drum when it was fully unwound the cable detached from the drum and fell with the weight.
The reason why the cable was not properly attached to the drum probably because the cable had not been replaced in accordance with specified maintenance procedure.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/10805356b8df75d88da382c0e48db6393eaf7897
https://jtsb.mlit.go.jp/jtsb/aircraft/detail2.php?id=2379
https://aerossurance.com/helicopters/screw-in-wrong-place-lost-hoist-cable/
https://cdn.jetphotos.com/full/5/29058_1459863543.jpg (photo)
History of this aircraft
Ex N404SH
Location
Media:
An error of just a few millimeters resulted in a Breeze-Eastern hoist cable being dropped by an AW139... aerossurance.com/helicopters/... #helicopter #SAR #hoist #HHO #flightsafety #aviationsafety #aviationmaintenance #humanfactors
— Aerossurance (@aerossurance.bsky.social) October 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
[image or embed]
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 19-Feb-2024 08:58 | isamuel | Added |
| 19-Feb-2024 08:59 | ASN | Updated |
| 20-Feb-2024 19:14 | isamuel | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Feb-2024 06:59 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 11-Sep-2025 05:38 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, ] |
| 05-Oct-2025 14:35 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, ] |
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