ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 40789
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 March 2000 |
| Time: | 16:40 UTC |
| Type: |  Hughes 269C |
| Owner/operator: | Aviation Bureau |
| Registration: | G-ZAPS |
| MSN: | 90041 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Hare Hatch, near Twyford, Berkshire -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Wycombe Air Park, Booker (EGTB) |
| Shoreham, West Sussex (EGKA) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Ex G-AYLX (first registered 28 October 1970): Re-registered as G-ZAPS 26 November 1999. On March 8, 2000, at 16:40 Greenwich Mean Time, a Hughes 269C, G-ZAPS, was destroyed as a result of an in-flight breakup during cruise. The helicopter impacted the ground in open farmland near Hare Hatch, Twyford, Berkshire. The helicopter had departed Wycombe Air Park (Booker), Buckinghamshire, en route to Shoreham, West Sussex. The pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. According to a BBC report, they were: Dennis Kenyon, 18, of Shoreham, Brendan Loft, 38, from Reigate in Surrey and Jane Biddulph, 23, of Lancing in West Sussex
According to the AAIB formal investigation:
"The attention of ground witnesses was drawn to the helicopter, which was flying on a Southerly heading near the village of Hare Hatch, by the sound of its engine and its low height. The helicopter was then seen to break into two sections, amidst a short-lived but large cloud of dark coloured 'smoke', before falling to the ground. The three occupants of the helicopter were fatally injured.
Investigations revealed that a pre-existing fatigue fracture of the upper clevis lug on the left centre frame rear cluster fitting had led to failure of the associated lower lug and consequent separation of the tail boom left lower support tube, which allowed the aft end of the tail boom to displace into the plane of the main rotor disc before detaching completely.
Very high cycle tension fatigue crack propagation was also found in the upper clevis lug at the weld bead edge of a non-approved welded patch repair, which had been carried out in April 1999. It was noted that no weld repairs of these clevis lugs are permitted and that the presence of such cracking requires replacement of the cluster fitting. The clevis lugs were not inspected during a CAA survey of the helicopter in October 1999, prior to the issue of a Certificate of Airworthiness, as there was no requirement to do so.
Neither the welded patch repair nor the associated fatigue cracking had been detected during the pilot's Pre-Flight Inspection, the helicopter's previous Daily Inspections or the last recorded specific visual examination of the clevis lugs, which had been carried out on 18 February 2000, 112:20 flying hours after the repair and some 16 flying hours before the accident.
A decision had been taken not to mandate the fitment of a re-designed strengthened cluster fitting, despite a history of fatigue cracking of the original clevis lug design"
Paul Kenward, a licensed aircraft engineer from Biggin Hill in Kent, who authorised the illegal welding in 1999, was cleared of three counts of manslaughter in 2002 in connection with this incident. He was later jailed for eight months for allowing the helicopter to fly without a valid certificate of airworthiness, endangering an aircraft and failing to make an entry in the aircraft's logbook.
Registration G-ZAPS cancelled by the CAA on 19 October 2000 as "destroyed" and "Addressee Status: Gone Away" (the registered owner was one of those killed)
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
1. NTSB Identification: CHI00WA088 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?_ev_id=20001212X20605&ntsbno=CHI00WA088&akey=1
2. AAIB: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5422ee41ed915d13710001d7/1-2003_G-ZAPS_.pdf
3. CAA: https://siteapps.caa.co.uk/g-info/rk=ZAPS
4. https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/71785-hughes-300-crash-aaib-report-there-something-fishy-going.html
5. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=1580
6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2786289.stm
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Hatch
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 06-Sep-2012 11:06 | AvDb | Updated [Location, Source] |
| 29-Sep-2012 17:50 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-Nov-2014 20:44 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-Nov-2014 20:49 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 28-Nov-2014 20:51 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 07-Jul-2016 12:57 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
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