Originally Posted by
nigelh
I suppose this would not have happened if you were flying ??!! I imagine you are talking about the boat crew ...in which case you should make that clear .
No, you are right - having re-read the report I can see that it shows a very professional operation after all. 'My bad' as they say these days.....
The helicopter landed at Bergen Airport for refuelling. Here all three on board took off their survival suits and life jackets. From Bergen airport, the helicopter headed directly to M/Y Bacarella. The yacht was ordered by the port authority to leave the quay to receive the helicopter. The pilot in the right seat flew the helicopter from Bergen airport. The helicopter took off at
While both persons in the front seats were buckled up, the passenger in the aft seat was not. Recording from the Appareo 1000 shows that the passenger is thrown forward over the pedestal and the right hand collective.
The pilot in the right front seat had a Private Pilot’s License for helicopters (PPL(H)) and type ratings on Robinson R44 and Robinson R66 helicopters. He had also completed type training and a skill test on the AS 350 B3 helicopter. The skill test was completed the day before the accident. The UK CAA had yet to issue the licence. His total experience on helicopters was 290.6 flight hours. Of these, 16.4 flight hours were on AS 350 B3.
The aft seat was equipped with three-point seat belts, but the passenger was not using one. He was busy filming the approach on his mobile phone. As the fuel bowser’s tarpaulin hit the main rotor, the helicopter started to vibrate excessively. Just before the helicopter hit the water, he was thrown sideways, then forward and over the pedestal and the right hand collective stick. There were multiple items of unsecured luggage in the cabin. In addition, there were multiple electronic devices with unsecured charging cables connected to power outlets.
The commander, who also had flight instructor privileges allowed a pilot with little experience on the helicopter type fly the helicopter in over the yacht's helideck with the intention to land from the right hand seat
The yacht's helideck was marginally sized, and the helicopter's tailboom would have to stick out aft of the helideck when it had landed. This required precise manoeuvring of the helicopter. In addition, due to the aerodynamic conditions (ground effect) created by the design and size of the helideck, the helicopter behaved differently than it would when landing on a larger landing surface. These circumstances, combined with the flying pilot’s low experience on the AS 350 B3, resulted in a low hover over the helideck that lasted for approximately 15 seconds