B206 accident in Lagos 28/8/2020

[212man]

Some sad news coming from Lagos: https://www.36ng.ng/2020/08/28/breaking-helicopter-crashes-into-building-in-lagos/

Two fatalities (both pilots).

[N4565L]

Came down in Ikeja, Lagos, 2 dead, one in ICU. Possible a Bell 206 JetRanger (or derivative).

Source: Nigerian FlightDeck: https://nigerianflightdeck.com/helicopter-crashes-into-building-in-lagos-two-feared/

[N4565L]

28AUG2020 Bell 206 JetRanger III, ex Pan African, crashed into residential area are of Ikeja (near Sheraton Hotel), Lagos, Nigeria earlier today. Two confirmed dead with one in hospital, critical. Believed to have been on photo shoot. RIP

[N4565L]

Believed to be 5N-BQW, ex 5N-BES

[N707ZS]

Interesting to see no fire in the photos or video.

[212man]

Interesting to see no fire in the photos or video.
not much rotational energy in the rotor, or forward speed, either.

[donner89]

not much rotational energy in the rotor, or forward speed, either.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1504/5334c251_ac7b_4f5a_b392_f30cf74455af_647ebde1d4b90179d5bd0f9 a57ed74737d4fd260.jpeg
Photo taken last year. She had been parked in the ACN hanger at NAF for last 2-3 years. Flew her quite a bit with Pan. Sad end to Bessie. RIP

[A681001]

A view of the 206 getting taken away at .33 mark , that's one flat fuselage


https://youtu.be/M4bd_yUVZ3Q

[donner89]

A view of the 206 getting taken away at .33 mark , that's one flat fuselage


https://youtu.be/M4bd_yUVZ3Q

From 5:56 mark,“According to eyewitness, the helicopter was seen hovering for more than 15 mins and the pilot was able to discharge the fuel before landing and that is why there is not much effect from the crash”

As usual, there is a remarkably observant eyewitness who can speculate what the pilot did.
That aircraft did not have the capability to dump fuel.

[N4565L]

Here is a photo taken back in 2013 while still in basic Pan African color but with Helico Express titles.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1906x1552/5n_bqw_4c30f4a48b03a1343995600c2972bd121403251e.jpg
Bell 206B JetRanger III 5N-BQW Copyright: Joe McDermott

[N4565L]

AIB removed the wreck very quickly!

[capngrog]

not much rotational energy in the rotor, or forward speed, either.

Agreed. Perhaps an engine failure and an autorotation gone wrong?

Regards,
Grog

[[email protected]]

Perhaps lack of fuel was the cause of both the engine failure and the lack of fire?

[gulliBell]

That's the most banged up 206 I've ever seen. Incredible that anybody survived.

[megan]

That aircraft did not have the capability to dump fuelExcept out the exhaust pipes. ;)
Seems to be some open areas available, but if hovering the H/V may be involved.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/784x472/lagos_c2e6c1292bb741b485dc8a8efdb4e7743a6a42e3.png

[Banzai-blades]

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/371x494/untitled_3b4338e581093e29e03f6af06608d27ccbc88bf8.png
Sounds like there might have been "other circumstance"

[gulliBell]

It's certainly non-airworthy now.

[donner89]

Perhaps lack of fuel was the cause of both the engine failure and the lack of fire?

Right on the money Crab, I think most of us shared that opinion.

[gulliBell]

"Post occurrence examination revealed that the fuel tanks were empty"

There you have it....and the fact the pilots Class One medical and proficiency check had both expired probably had nothing much to do with it running out of fuel.

[Torquetalk]

The report references a fuel upload to full tanks. Then only the ground run and accident flight. Something doesn‘t add up.

Either fuel upload log was wrong; the gauge faulty (and presumably low fuel warning system as well); or there was a leak or siphoning.

[ApolloHeli]

What's a typical burn rate in the B206 for cruise?

[Torquetalk]

What's a typical burn rate in the B206 for cruise?

Depends a little on the individual aircraft, but one Longranger I flew regularly did better than 117lb per hour. Incredibly economical really.

Another had a dodgy low fuel warning calibration - always good for an adrenaline kick towards the end of a carefully planned flight.
Another started REALLY hot.
Another...

Had a colleague put the aircraft back in the hanger with not much more than fumes in it. This after having flown a customer to their destination, then taken off again and RTB - all with the low fuel light on. What a pr*ck.

Another colleague got so close to running out of fuel that the fuel pump pressure warning came on - he was in a state of shock at realizing how close he came to running out of the magic liquid.

[212man]

The report references a fuel upload to full tanks. Then only the ground run and accident flight. Something doesn‘t add up.

Either fuel upload log was wrong; the gauge faulty (and presumably low fuel warning system as well); or there was a leak or siphoning.

no - the report says it did a ten minute ground run and a twenty minute test flight, after filling up the day before the accident. The accident flight lasted 2:54, so a total of 3:14 flight time plus ground running.

[Torquetalk]

no - the report says it did a ten minute ground run and a twenty minute test flight, after filling up the day before the accident. The accident flight lasted 2:54, so a total of 3:14 flight time plus ground running.

Then I misread the report. Thanks 212

What were they thinking?

[Nubian]

What's a typical burn rate in the B206 for cruise?

From memory about 28 USG (184lbs) an hour, in the 206B3.
It looks as the machine had range extender so 91USG full fuel. 91:28 = 3hr and 15 min

[gulliBell]

Yeah, it ran out of fuel about the time you'd expect it to run out of fuel.

[donner89]

From memory about 28 USG (184lbs) an hour, in the 206B3.
It looks as the machine had range extender so 91USG full fuel. 91:28 = 3hr and 15 min

That calculation is about right. His estimate for LAG was not accurate despite using a GPS and he told Lagos tower that he had 1 hour of fuel.

Direct line from NAF to Lagos is approx 250nm on a NW track and with a headwind component (westerly to North westerly wind typical for this time of year). Inadequate planning and fuel calculations. Nig regs dictate a VFR fuel reserve of 30 mins (14-15 gals). From a planning standpoint this flight would have been flown intentionally well into VFR reserves with no contingency, and only then with a topped off tank.

[ApolloHeli]

Not many slices of cheese involved in this one...

[gulliBell]

Makes you wonder if the insurance will pay out if the pilot medical was not current, the proficiency check was not current, and the pilot ran it out of fuel.

[John Eacott]

What's a typical burn rate in the B206 for cruise?

Ooh, there’s one I do know; 26usg or 100lt per hour :ok:

Essential as the fuel gauge is in US gallons, delivered in litres and aircraft weight calculated in kilos. Great system in Oz :p

[Bell_ringer]

Makes you wonder if the insurance will pay out if the pilot medical was not current, the proficiency check was not current, and the pilot ran it out of fuel.

insurance companies get sticky if a flight wasn’t legal. Improper fuel management already puts them on the wrong side of that equation.

[Torquetalk]

Given the lack of OPC, medical and competent flight planning, would it be any surprise if there was none?

[trevelyan]

Why oh why oh why don't the local authorities secure the area? The video in the first post has all of the locals climbing all over the wreckage, old people and young people and everything in between I assume looking for something to salvage.

[megan]

Essential as the fuel gauge is in US gallons, delivered in litres and aircraft weight calculated in kilos. Great system in OzIt's a daily check to keep your mathematical skills up to date John, so you don't end up dead sticking like that 767 in Canada and the 206 that is the subject of this thread. :E

[212man]

Why oh why oh why don't the local authorities secure the area? The video in the first post has all of the locals climbing all over the wreckage, old people and young people and everything in between I assume looking for something to salvage.
What planet do you live on?

[Zombywoof]

Why oh why oh why don't the local authorities secure the area? The video in the first post has all of the locals climbing all over the wreckage, old people and young people and everything in between I assume looking for something to salvage.
I told them to stop, but they ignored me.

[John Eacott]

It's a daily check to keep your mathematical skills up to date John, so you don't end up dead sticking like that 767 in Canada and the 206 that is the subject of this thread. :E

I forgot to add the conversion of litres to kilos, depending on the SG of the JetA1. Usually 0.78, a very easy number to use for multiplication :p

[OvertHawk]

Half a barrel an hour!

Keep it simple!

:ok:

[Fareastdriver]

I see in the Sahara Reporters article they state that the 'Owners Tricked the NCAA into Obtaining Operators Licence'.

Sounds like a new term for dash.

[FH1100 Pilot]

Well, he *almost* made it.

The distance from the NAF in Port Harcourt to Lagos is, what, 250 miles? A clean and light, high-skid 206B should be capable of about 105 KIAS at 80% torque. That's 2.4 hours, give or take.. With 91 gallons onboard and 26 gph, he *should* have had an endurance of 3.5 hours with full tanks. But did they get the thing 100% full? And remember, they dicked around, running it and test-flying it for a total of .5 the day before, so that brought his endurance down to 3.0. Still, that *should* have theoretically given him a 30-minute reserve.

With no en route refueling available, he probably thought/prayed that he could make 100 knots groundspeed, which would give him 2.5 en route. But apparently the flight took 3.0. Did they not go in an absolutely straight line? Were the winds higher than predicted/planned? Can we imagine the thoughts going through that pilot's mind as he looked at the GPS and saw a GS of only 80 knots? Holy cow, what an awful, depressing feeling that must have been! But instead of turning back at the point-of-no-return, he pressed on, maybe hoping the winds would die down and he could get the groundspeed up. Tragically, that never happened.

Once we take off, pilots are eternal optimists. And that pilot's optimism caused him to run his little 206B right out of fuel. With the prospect of a long flight like that...another pilot might have stuck a couple of 5-gallon jugs of Jet-A in the baggage compartment and set down along the way to put them in. Or...the smarter thing to do would've been to top the tank off again before departure.

[gulliBell]

Impossible to know what the pilot was thinking...reporting one hour endurance just before running the tank dry. Maybe the engine going quiet the moment it did came as a surprise. I mean, if you know you're about to run out of gas, having the ability to safely land a helicopter anywhere it would fit would be a very appealing option. Rather than running it dry and ending up somewhere where it doesn't fit. Not much thinking going on I suspect, especially in the planning before the flight. No excuse for departing with less than a full tank of gas.

[etudiant]

Impossible to know what the pilot was thinking...reporting one hour endurance just before running the tank dry. Maybe the engine going quiet the moment it did came as a surprise. I mean, if you know you're about to run out of gas, having the ability to safely land a helicopter anywhere it would fit would be a very appealing option. Rather than running it dry and ending up somewhere where it doesn't fit. Not much thinking going on I suspect, especially in the planning before the flight. No excuse for departing with less than a full tank of gas.

Sure looks as though the poor guy was entirely out of his depth if he mis-estimated his fuel reserve so badly. Clearly he had no idea that he was down to fumes. RIP

[FH1100 Pilot]

I disagree, guys. He knew he was about out of fuel - he just didn't want to admit it to ATC. Had it kept running and he went in and landed, nobody would have been the wiser. And nobody would have cared.

Look, he had, an "engineer" (what we in the U.S. call an aircraft mechanic) onboard, probably in the left-front seat. He was also carrying a "fitter mechanic," whatever that is. The flight was listed as a positioning flight, so we can assume that those two were not revenue passengers, but rather fellow employees..

The fuel gauge in a 206 is pretty hard to miss. It's right in front of the left-seat passenger, who I'm certain was pointing at it, going, "Uhhhh, Skipper, are we gonna make this?". It is simply inconceivable to me that the pilot could be unaware of his fuel state. But like I said, pilots are optimists, and this one evidently thought he could get it on the ground before it quit. I mean, look how close they got! Same deal with that EMS pilot who ran his Astar out of fuel on approach to the airport in Mosby, Missouri, US in 2011. There's a strong psychological thing..."I'll make it...come on, baby...keep running..." And then it doesn't.

We've all had that lump-in-the-throat, "This-is-gonna-be-close" feeling when low on fuel. If you have not experienced it, you haven't been flying for very long. A FAR Part-135 operator I once worked for allowed us to fly down to 20-minutes of fuel as long as we had a refueling point "in the vicinity." But I was never comfortable with that. Twenty minutes of fuel does not look like much on a 206B fuel gauge. It's a little less than 10 gallons.

The pilot of 5N-BQW gambled...and lost, plain and simple.

[donner89]

Whether he had the fuel topped off after doing the gnd run and Mx flt at NAF we cannot say for certain as it is not yet clear, however, he could have stopped in Osubi and taken on fuel. A little under half way but a quick gander at the GS vs fuel burn and plan accordingly.
He had options but chose not to use them.

[Hot and Hi]

It is simply inconceivable to me that the pilot could be unaware of his fuel state. But like I said, pilots are optimists, and this one evidently thought he could get it on the ground before it quit. I mean, look how close they got! Same deal with that EMS pilot who ran his Astar out of fuel on approach to the airport in Mosby, Missouri, US in 2011. There's a strong psychological thing..."I'll make it...come on, baby...keep running..." And then it doesn't.

We've all had that lump-in-the-throat, "This-is-gonna-be-close" feeling when low on fuel. If you have not experienced it, you haven't been flying for very long.

No doubt. You are 100% right in your assessment.