some additionl info on MHS ditching
Whilst the ditching was successful, the helicopter overturned immediately in the rough sea but initially remained afloat. The crew of 2 and 7 of the 8 pax escaped from the aircraft and were subsequently rescued by standby vessels. Sadly, one of the pax did not escape and his body was later recovered from the passenger cabin by divers.
The Malaysian Dept of Civil Aviation has commenced its investigation, and efforts are underway to recover the helicopter, which is lying in approx 28 metres of water.
Early indications are that the helicopter suffered a LH Hydraulic failure as a result of which the crew elected to recover to land at Bintulu. However, soon after initiating the turn back, thick white smoke entered the cabin. It is reported that within seconds this was immediately followed by black smoke that rapidly filled the cabin and cockpit, making continued flight impossible. The crew carried out a power-on ditching.
In addition, a Service Letter (N°:1823-67-07) was published yesterday by Eurocopter. Here is an abstract:
"Following a lightning strike on the main rotor of an AS332 L2 helicopter in flight, the LH hydraulic power supply was lost.
As a precautionary measure, the three main rotor servo-controls were examined.
The examination revealed that:
• One servo-control had a significant leak from the outer seal, which led to the loss of the hydraulic fluid from one
of the two hydraulic systems.
• The other two servo-controls had a small leak between the upper and lower cylinder.
• One of the end-fittings on each of the three servo-controls had electric arcing marks on the ball joint.
The examination of these servo-controls revealed electric arcing marks on at least one of the end-fittings of the servo-controls that were struck by lightning."