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| Date: | Tuesday 12 January 2010 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  MD Helicopter MD 902 Explorer |
| Owner/operator: | Polizei Niedersachsen |
| Registration: | D-HPND |
| MSN: | 900-00087 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2001 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Elze -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Hannover/Langenhagen (12:15) |
| local | |
| Investigating agency: | BFU |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The crew of the police helicopter - a flight instructor, a pilot and a system operator - took off at 12:15 p.m.1 from Hanover Airport for a training flight.
According to the crew, after leaving the Hanover control zone, they flew via the mandatory reporting point on November 1 to the planned training area in the Wietzenbruch area.
Maneuvers were to be practiced there in accordance with the police helicopter squadron's tactical standardization program.
According to the information, quick stops, approaches on snow-covered ground, hovering outside of ground effect and the use of the thermal imaging camera were practiced first.
The flight instructor then took over the controls.
According to his description, he now wanted to show the pilot a route in contour flight that the pilot should remember and follow.
To do this, the flight instructor flew south at approximately treetop height.
At the end of the planned route, he initiated a high turn to the right to get back to the starting point.
During the descent after the turn, the flight instructor wanted to catch the helicopter at a low altitude and fly flat over the snow-covered open areas towards the north.
According to the crew, contact with the ground occurred completely unexpectedly.
When the helicopter touched the ground, the right skid broke off, the lower fuselage bow was destroyed and the control around the vertical axis was blocked.
Due to snow in the cockpit and above the front of the helicopter, the crew lost their view of the outside during contact with the ground.
After sliding for about
45 m, the helicopter took off again and, according to the crew, reached a flight altitude above the trees on the northern edge of the field.
The helicopter began to roll to the left around its longitudinal axis and turn to the left around its vertical axis.
The flight instructor brought the helicopter into a hover and was able to bring it to the ground by turning to the left around its vertical axis in a swirling cloud of snow.
After touching down, the helicopter tipped over onto its right side. The crew turned off the still running engines and was able to free themselves from the wreckage.
Conclusions
The low-level flight accident during a tactical standardization flight can be attributed to the following immediate causes:
- Flying a high turn with a deliberate flat exit
- Unintentional contact of the helicopter with the ground during interception and subsequent partial loss of control of the helicopter by the crew
- Environmental conditions with extensive snow-covered fields and possibly diffuse lighting conditions, which led to a loss of spatial orientation and a misjudgment of the flight altitude
The following systemic causes contributed to the accident:
- Inadequate specifications and descriptions of the procedures to be practiced
- Inadequate risk assessments of the flight maneuvers flown and corresponding safety precautions
Safety recommendations
The police helicopter squadron affected reacted to the flight accident with the following internal measures:
- Re-sensitization of all squadron members to the topics
+ Dangers of winter flight operations
+ Dangers of spatial disorientation
+ Periodic contact during flight operations by the operations control center (every 10 minutes) for position query
+ Manual activation of the ELT
- Establishment of training areas by the police helicopter squadron's flight instructors
- Constant monitoring of the established training areas for changes
- Flight control during standardization flights by the operational pilot
- Low-level flight must be carried out in accordance with the situation, weather and terrain
At speeds over 70 KIAS, an altitude of at least 50 ft/GND
must be maintained
- Intensification of the updating of the existing quality management manual, Part C for the field of "training and further education"
- Investigation/assessment of the overall circumstances after all reports have been received
- Investigation of the internal processes and procedural instructions
- Automated position display with the introduction of digital radio network operation
The BFU has issued the following safety recommendation:
Recommendation No. 02/2011
The Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development should establish an independent control body for all federal and state police helicopter squadrons that regularly monitors the quality, safety and standardization of flight operations.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.haz.de/Hannover/Aus-der-Region/Im-Norden/Wedemark/Polizeihubschrauber-verunglueckt-bei-Trainingsflug
https://www.bfu-web.de/DE/Home/homepage_node.htmlDE/Publikationen/Untersuchungsberichte/2010/Bericht_10_3X002_MD900_Elze.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 12-Jan-2010 12:48 | RobertMB | Added |
| 12-Jan-2010 14:29 | RobertMB | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 12-Jan-2010 14:31 | RobertMB | Updated [Location, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Feb-2013 08:08 | TB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Feb-2013 08:12 | TB | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 26-Feb-2013 08:14 | TB | Updated [Source, ] |
| 13-Aug-2024 12:19 | EUGENIO GRIGORJEV | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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