GT has conducted an investigation. ATSB may as well go home.
Analysis of flight data identifies possible cause of fatal helicopter crash on Mt Disappointment in Victoria
Geoffrey ThomasThe West Australian
Fri, 1 April 2022 7:06PMHow can it be that a top of the range helicopter operated by a well-run company with an excellent track record crashes with everybody on board dying?
That is the mystery confronting Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators as they pick through the tangled wreckage of the five-year-old Airbus EC130 helicopter operated by Microflite.
The pilot, 32-year-old Dean Neal, was a former Westpac rescue helicopter pilot, giving him years of experience in tough conditions
According to Flightaware tracking data, the helicopter — part of a two-ship formation that departed from Melbourne on Thursday morning — was flying normally at a constant speed of about 322km/h at a stable altitude of around 240m.
But 14 minutes before the crash the speed became erratic, with 11 sharp changes and the altitude increased dramatically.
The speed went from a high of 339km/h to just 176km/h, while the altitude increased to 1050m, some 200m above the highest point on Mt Disappointment.
According to Flightaware tracking data, the helicopter, flown by Dean Neal, was flying normally at a constant speed of about 322km/h at a stable altitude of around 240m. Credit: Instagram/InstagramThe data seems to indicate a severe weather event, possibly wind shear, which is defined as a wind direction and/or speed change over a vertical or horizontal distance.
This has been fatal when it causes changes to the headwind or tailwind such that the aircraft or helicopter is abruptly displaced from its intended flight path and substantial control action is required to correct it.
The fact there was no distress call means little because in an emergency situation the first priority of the pilot is to stabilise the helicopter or aircraft, fly out of trouble and then advise air traffic control.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators now face the job of picking through the tangled wreckage of the five-year-old Airbus EC130 helicopter operated by Microflite. Credit: 7NEWS/7NEWSWinds around mountains have been deadly many times with tumbling rotors forming as the wind climbs up the mountain and then rolls off the top, like a wave crashing at a beach.
Mountains act like rocks in a fast flowing stream, only in these instances it’s an air stream.
It may take months to learn what factors conspired to tragically end five lives on a Victorian mountain on Thursday.