ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 153656
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Wednesday 21 October 2009 |
| Time: | 13:30 |
| Type: |  Bell 407 |
| Owner/operator: | Gitto Construction Nigeria |
| Registration: | 5N-BIC |
| MSN: | 53340 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1999 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Uyo -
 Nigeria
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Uyo |
| Port Harcourt | |
| Investigating agency: | AIB Nigeria |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Bell 407 5N-BIC was destroyed after an uncontained engine turbine disc failure.
The operated from Abuja to Calabar on the 20th of October 2009. On the 21st of October 2009, 5N-BIC departed Calabar to Port Harcourt at about 1230hrs on a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) positioning flight with the Pilot and an Engineer on board. According to the Pilot, a few minutes after departing Calabar for Port Harcourt, the transmission chip detector indication was noticed at a location close to Gitto Uyo Site. The pilot made a radio call to Eket of the intention to divert to Uyo for technical reasons. On landing at Gitto site, Uyo, the Maintenance Engineer reported that maintenance inspection was carried out on the transmission oil system; the three chip detector plugs on the transmission were checked and found satisfactory. Furthermore, an engine ground run was carried out and all indications were found normal.
The Pilot decided to continue the flight from Uyo to Port Harcourt. Less than five minutes after take-off, the engine chip detector indication came on and about thirty seconds after, the engine oil pressure showed zero. The Pilot decided to make an air return but could not make it to the Helipad as there was a ‘bang’ from the engine and the aircraft dropped uncontrolled to the ground and crashed. There was post-crash fire.
The Engineer sustained minor injury and was treated and discharged from the same hospital in Port Harcourt.
The investigation identified the following causal factors:
i. Improper maintenance of the oil system which led to oil starvation resulting in the failure of the No. 6, 7, and 8 bearings in the power turbine section of the engine, leading to power loss.
ii. Improper identification by the pilot of the transmission chip light illumination during flight instead of the engine chip light.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.aib.gov.ng/media/1134/gitto-5n-bic_final-report_20112017.pdf
http://www.bellhelicopter.com/MungoBlobs/802/70/potential.pdf
http://www.oyibosonline.com/sm2/?topic=8521.0;wap2
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Mar-2013 10:26 | TB | Added |
| 05-Dec-2017 18:28 | harro | Updated [Time, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Nov-2021 13:02 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation