Extremely hot weather and erratic wind conditions in steep terrain claims Bell 214B.
On 13 Nov 2019, adverse weather conditions proved too much for the powerful Bell 214B during low level waterbombing, which was forced to crash land into a tight clearing. The helicopter then rolled onto its side; however, the pilot walked away with only minor injuries!
Paul Sadler, Communications Manager, Australian Transport Safety Bureau, told us they often release Occurrence Briefs to expedite and share safety messages in the absence of an investigation. On 23 Dec 2019, they published a report into the Bell 214B helicopter water bombing accident near Pechey, Qld.
In brief (edited), the update states, at 1344 AEST, the helicopter approached the bushfire downwind and downhill from the north-west at about 60 knots and made a descending right-hand turn back into wind over the fire source. The descent was continued towards the drop zone. The airspeed was further slowed, and the height was reduced to about 50 feet above treetop level. After the water was dropped onto the fire, the helicopter climbed away towards rising terrain. The pilot heard the low rotor RPM warning and but had insufficient height to recover the rotor RPM by lowering the collective. Despite his best attempts to climb above the obstacles and fire, the rotor RPM appeared to decay further. As a result, the Bell 214B collided with the ground and rolled onto its left side. The pilot was able to turn off the fuel to stop the engine and exited the helicopter via the overhead window with only minor injuries. Neither the g-force activated ELT beacon or flight tracking alarm were triggered.Based on the pilot’s account and assessment of the recovered aircraft, mechanical malfunctions were ruled out.
The operator later stated the accident was most likely the result of a loss of rotor RPM from which the pilot was unable to recover, due to a downwind descending turn, a low altitude water release and a departure into rising terrain. The pilot had to decide between putting the helicopter into tall trees and the active bushfire or climbing over the trees to clear ground. In choosing the latter, the rotor RPM decayed further, and the helicopter contacted the ground.
robsrich: a good luck story. Fire fighting is a high risk operation, especially when hot gusty winds are hindering low level operations.