Dauphin Down Indonesia
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Dauphin Down Indonesia
Yesterday, approx 07.30 local time, a Dauphin had a forced ditching near the Bekapai field (TOTAL) off East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Information is patchy, but it appears there were 6 on board plus 2 crew.
There are no reports of injury, fortunately.
Information is patchy, but it appears there were 6 on board plus 2 crew.
There are no reports of injury, fortunately.
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Dauphin SA 365 N2 PK-TSX Precautionary Ditching 02-03-06
The aircraft belonging to PT. Indonesia Air Transport was on a routine flight from a rig to another offshore ( East Borneo, Kalimantan, Mahakam delta ) production platform cruising normaly at 1000 feet, weather good , visibility good, sea state calm about 10Kts wind, 4 passengers + two pilots on board. About 6 NM from destination the Pilots and passengers heard a loud ratteling noise coming from the rear of the aircraft followed imediately by quite severe vibration. The vibration got worse and a gradual loss of tail rotor control was felt , the pilot decided to initiate a precautionary ditching and desended for the water while making a MayDay call on the local area frequency. In the final approach phase he deployed the emergency floatation gear which caused additional control problems, aircraft started turning to the left which could not be compensated with right rudder, the approach to the water continued in a shallow left hand turn touching down in the water at low forward speed.The aircraft remained afloat , the crew launched both life rafts succesfully and passengers and crew evacuated the aircraft without any problems straight in to the life rafts without even getting wet , no injuries. They were all picked up by a rescue boat within 20 minutes
From the liferaft the Pilots noticed that the entire fenestron system was missing out of the shroud with the hub and severely damaged blades hanging on by a remaining cable the shroud was also badly damaged and slashed by what appeared to be TR blade strikes. The aircraft was subsequently recovered and is now located in the PT Indonesia Air Transport Maintenance facility at Balikpapan airport for in depth investigation by the local authorities and Eurocopter France technical representatives. There is no doubt that the Pilot made the right decision at the right time, a very good job alround and a good evacuation from the aircraft was executed. We now need to find out why this happened , this is the second or third time that an N2 is involved with tail rotor system problems, the other incidents were in West Africa.
From the liferaft the Pilots noticed that the entire fenestron system was missing out of the shroud with the hub and severely damaged blades hanging on by a remaining cable the shroud was also badly damaged and slashed by what appeared to be TR blade strikes. The aircraft was subsequently recovered and is now located in the PT Indonesia Air Transport Maintenance facility at Balikpapan airport for in depth investigation by the local authorities and Eurocopter France technical representatives. There is no doubt that the Pilot made the right decision at the right time, a very good job alround and a good evacuation from the aircraft was executed. We now need to find out why this happened , this is the second or third time that an N2 is involved with tail rotor system problems, the other incidents were in West Africa.
Just seen some interesting photos and they confirm no tail rotor to be seen!
I assume the decision to ditch and not continue to a runway onshore was precipitated by the level of vibration.
I assume the decision to ditch and not continue to a runway onshore was precipitated by the level of vibration.
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Originally Posted by 212man
Just seen some interesting photos and they confirm no tail rotor to be seen!
I assume the decision to ditch and not continue to a runway onshore was precipitated by the level of vibration.
I assume the decision to ditch and not continue to a runway onshore was precipitated by the level of vibration.
The right decision at the right time is always judged in hindsight. If the control problems with the floats inflated had precluded a safe landing, or the ocean had been rougher, or any of other variables resulted in the statistically probable 20% loss of life in a ditching, then we'd be saying that he should have flown back to a runway 'cause everyone knows the big-finned Dauphin can fly without the fan.
If instead he had tried flying back to a runway and ended up like ACN's double fatality, we'd then be saying he should have ditched.
The captain made a decision, everyone lived, it was the right one in hindsight.
malabo
If instead he had tried flying back to a runway and ended up like ACN's double fatality, we'd then be saying he should have ditched.
The captain made a decision, everyone lived, it was the right one in hindsight.
malabo
Malabo, the ACN aircraft was not returning to a runway; it was a river side helipad. The loss of control occured during the decelaration on approach.
Interestingly, ECF had a tail rotor failure with the EC-155 during the B1 hot and high trials in Arizona, manifested initially by increasing vibration. They took it back to the nearest runway, having established they had no yaw control. Subsequently they added an emergency procedure to the FLM that stated that in the event of in flight severe vibration, the pilot should establish whether he has yaw control, and if not to resist the temptation to land immediately. Speaking to the pilot concerned, he said it was the worst vibration he had experienced in 25 years of test flying, and the urge to land was overpowering. They carried out a successful running landing after 20 minutes. That is not to question the actions of the pilot in this incident, I hasten to add!
Is this failure a result of cracking of the carbon fibre TT straps? The 155 has titanium ones, partly to address this issue.
Interestingly, ECF had a tail rotor failure with the EC-155 during the B1 hot and high trials in Arizona, manifested initially by increasing vibration. They took it back to the nearest runway, having established they had no yaw control. Subsequently they added an emergency procedure to the FLM that stated that in the event of in flight severe vibration, the pilot should establish whether he has yaw control, and if not to resist the temptation to land immediately. Speaking to the pilot concerned, he said it was the worst vibration he had experienced in 25 years of test flying, and the urge to land was overpowering. They carried out a successful running landing after 20 minutes. That is not to question the actions of the pilot in this incident, I hasten to add!
Is this failure a result of cracking of the carbon fibre TT straps? The 155 has titanium ones, partly to address this issue.
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It was not the floats that "caused" any control difficulties, it was the complete lack of an anti-torque system, and the fact that the pilot slowed down, so that the vertical fin/endplates were not sufficient to make up the yaw control gap.
It is possible that the pilot could have flown to a landing, since the fin is capable of sustaining level flight under some gross weight conditions in a fenestron aircraft. Second-guessing the PIC here is a pretty lame thing to do, especially when all came out of it well.
It is possible that the pilot could have flown to a landing, since the fin is capable of sustaining level flight under some gross weight conditions in a fenestron aircraft. Second-guessing the PIC here is a pretty lame thing to do, especially when all came out of it well.
Maybe another flector coupling failure....the one wich links the gear box to the tail rotor drive shaft...the symptoms seems to be similar to a case I know, where the pilot managed to land back on an helideck after having experienced heavy vibrations after a loud bang and uncommanded inflation of floats...(inflated front floats greatly impairing downwards vision for an accurate landing)
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I have to say - the urge to land/ditch would be strong in me with serious vibration, as this sounds. Continuing flight with a good fin is one thing; having unknown bits flailing around at the back could be another. It is for the captain of an aircraft in those situations to make a decision. Justifying it later is preferable to being second guessed in your absence.
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I concur with Helipolarbear, one can only praise the Captain's sound judgement and skillful handling of the incident which resulted in no injuries to the occupants. A run on landing in excess of 60kts in a stricken helicopter vs controlled ditching? There is in my opinion no definitive answer to this question due to the number of variables involved. In this instance the Captain made the right call.
Sadly in Jan 02 a similar failure on a 365N2 in Nigeria ended tragically. The TR failure in that accident occured on short finals to a quayside helipad at the Brass oil terminal. Due to the low forward speed and stage of flight the helicopter immediately spun out of control hitting a barge on the river next to the helipad. Tragically both pilots and 2 pax were killed.
The picture of the hub assembly from that accident looks remarkably similar to this one, with the hub and blades completely detached from the damaged housing. The Nigerian accident report concluded that one blade failed due to a fatigue crack at the blade root resulting in catastophic damage to the remaining blades and a total loss of tailrotor effectiveness.
Subsequently Eurocopter reduced the time in service for the problem blades before they were replaced with a re-designed version some time later. All EC365N2s worldwide with this type of blade should have had the old blades replaced. Did PK-TSX have the newer or older version of the blades?
Also more recently there was an incident in Norway involving a Dauphin with a vibration felt by the pilots shortly followed by a TR failure. Fortunately there were no injuries as the pilot was able to put the helicopter down safely. Does anyone know if the report into that incident has been released yet?
Hopefully this latest incident will make Eurocopter re-examine the blades and rectify a problem that should have been fixed a long time ago.
One hopes it will happen before there are any more incidents or tragedies.
Sadly in Jan 02 a similar failure on a 365N2 in Nigeria ended tragically. The TR failure in that accident occured on short finals to a quayside helipad at the Brass oil terminal. Due to the low forward speed and stage of flight the helicopter immediately spun out of control hitting a barge on the river next to the helipad. Tragically both pilots and 2 pax were killed.
The picture of the hub assembly from that accident looks remarkably similar to this one, with the hub and blades completely detached from the damaged housing. The Nigerian accident report concluded that one blade failed due to a fatigue crack at the blade root resulting in catastophic damage to the remaining blades and a total loss of tailrotor effectiveness.
Subsequently Eurocopter reduced the time in service for the problem blades before they were replaced with a re-designed version some time later. All EC365N2s worldwide with this type of blade should have had the old blades replaced. Did PK-TSX have the newer or older version of the blades?
Also more recently there was an incident in Norway involving a Dauphin with a vibration felt by the pilots shortly followed by a TR failure. Fortunately there were no injuries as the pilot was able to put the helicopter down safely. Does anyone know if the report into that incident has been released yet?
Hopefully this latest incident will make Eurocopter re-examine the blades and rectify a problem that should have been fixed a long time ago.
One hopes it will happen before there are any more incidents or tragedies.
