AW139 down in Benin

[AS332L1]

Just seen pictures of this machine very heavy landing into the Djougou stadium today W/O?

[Nubian]

PHOTOS: Benin PM Lionel Zinsou's helicopter crash lands at Djougou stadium - African Spotlight (http://africanspotlight.com/2015/12/26/photos-benin-pm-lionel-zinsous-helicopter-crash-lands-at-djougou-stadium/)

It certain would need a lot of polish.....

[SASless]

OOPS! Bit late on the Pitch Pull, Lad!

[GoodGrief]

I'd go for brownout.

[megan]

What are the yellow bits beneath the 139? Not another aircraft, or floats?

[SilsoeSid]

Post crash vid;

3jeL1djo-cc

[pilot and apprentice]

What are the yellow bits beneath the 139? Not another aircraft, or floats?

Life rafts

[SASless]

A couple of guys in White Shirts and Black Trousers must feel a bit redundant walking around the aircraft!:oh:

[wanabee777]

Never trust a pilot with a man bun.:)

[tottigol]

SAS, they likely were before the crash as well.:E

[Same again]

I always do a post flight walk around too SASless. Do you think they noticed anything?

[maeroda]

That 139 looks to be the s.n. 31604 and had no life raft installation in the beginning, but apparently the yellow bags underneath are part of the flotation gear and the life rafts inadvertently inflated by the bang.

I'll go for brown out too after they touched something with the rotor blades tips......reason being I fly nearby that country and every out of airport landing has the dust thrill embedded!

[RVDT]

Depending on the "Mod Status" the tail probably just fell off on its own.

Before or after the exit of a TR blade that one of the White Shirted chaps actually stands on at 01:15 in the video?

Strange that the blade does not appear to have leading edge damage yet is broken off?

Just sayin'

[belly tank]

Looks like the gents may have spun a little....Brown out could be a possible factor.

Depending on the "Mod Status" the tail probably just fell off on its own.


RVDT..The TR blades are the new type as they have the three red stripes as opposed to the previous blades a few years ago that de laminated, they had two stripes...

but apparently the yellow bags underneath are part of the flotation gear and the life rafts inadvertently inflated by the bang.

Nothing to do with the floats as they are activated by water sensors or manually on the collective. The Life rafts however are activated by the Capt / FO handles on the door pillars or the emergency handles at the front of the sponsons beneath the velcro cover.

My guess is as the aircraft has done spinning its activated somehow one or both the systems.

Glad to see all ok.

Look forward to actual facts as they come to light.

[malabo]

Look forward to actual facts as they come to light.

Bwahahaha. First you would need motivation for an investigation, and commit resources. Were we impressed with the "securing of the crash site" or did it look a little African to you? Military around, PM security, 2 pilots in their ridiculous airline uniforms, and yet locals with free run to reach in and pilfer the minibar. The only reason the tail rotor blade was still there was because everyone picking it up would drop it again as no perceived value.

TY-ABC was the only civil registered helicopter in Benin, but the ramp side hangars at Cotonou are stuffed full of derelict 109 and A350.

Africa. Don't hold your breath.

[noooby]

41347 is the serial number.

RVDT, all tailbooms are basically the same Mod status, which if you knew anything about 139's, you would know. They all have the external doublers, unless you go for the 7 ton variant, which is a totally different tail boom. The only difference of any note with the older booms is if you have Al or Nomex honeycomb core.

I'm curious to know why a blade has to have leading edge damage to depart the hub? Can you see the opposite blade? Perhaps it has significant damage and after it departed the imbalance caused this blade to depart? Given the close proximity to the wreckage, it certainly didn't have a lot of energy in it when it departed, unless of course it flew straight up!

The one pilot and one engineer you can see walking around are well known in Africa and both have been involved with the 139 for a number of years. I'm glad they are both Ok!

Reported on Aviation-Safety as a MR Blade strike. Don't ya just love all the locals taking off with stuff and contaminating the accident site! Enough to make an Investigator cry :sad:

I just hope that Y.M and E.dP don't get arrested! That is the usual reaction to expats in this kind of situation.

[Collective Bias]

Noooby

Are you sure the 7 ton version has a different tail boom? I thought it was just the stabilizer attachment that was different on the tail boom (due to certification aircraft version). This is the information I got from AW.

CB

[[email protected]]

So was it MR blade strike following brown out in the dust? it would seem logical but don't they have an SOP for going around if references are lost at a critical stage of the approach?

[Kulwin Park]

http://africanspotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CXKwCpCWEAIfagO.jpg

Interesting that the Tail Rotor Drive Shaft has sheared off at the tailboom/fuselage junction, but the cowling at that point is damaged by the looks of it.
Could possibly be a trds failure at this point and possible of spinning due tr loss, and when tail came off, the driveshaft just came out with it, under the driveshaft covers. Just thinking, no theories though.
Ta KP

[AS332L1]

It would appear from local press reports that the tail rotor struck a wall during brown out ( not their description) resulting in main rotor chopping through tail rotor driveshaft and the rest is known.
Google Earth shows the landing area surrounded by a very high wall I am sure all will be revealed eventually?

[noooby]

Collective Bias, I was on the Production Line for the 7 ton looking at the tailboom before it was attached.

Totally different. No longer honeycomb construction. They have gone back to normal semi-monocoque construction. Ribs/stringers/skin. And the TR Driveshaft bearing is no longer on the rear deck, it is now mounted on the tailboom.

I don't know if it is heavier or not, but a bonus is that the cold weather cert is -40C all the way up to 7000kg, not 6400kg as before and 6800 to -30C.

From the outside it looks very similar, just no external longerons visible. I didn't get to look at the fin section, but I think it hasn't changed.

[Collective Bias]

OK, thanks Nooby.


We have the 6,8 kit and are thinking about the 7,0. According to AW it is only the LG and stabilizer we need to change. That was the reason for my question.


CB

[noooby]

I don't think the stab changes. I also think you can keep your tailboom, but you'll have the temp restrictions the same as 6800kg.

PM me with your email and I'll send you the pdf showing what the different Serial Number blocks need done to them for the 7 ton. AW put out a nice pdf file a while ago.

[jeepys]

Nooby,

can you also send that pdf to me as well please?

Many thanks and happy new year.

J

[noooby]

jeepys

Only if you PM me with an email address :)

[The Night Owl]

Rich pickings for the locals, could make quite a fancy shed out of those offerings, maybe even two