Tale of a Dolphin
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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Tale of a Dolphin
A few weeks ago an EC155 returned from an offshore flight over the North Sea.
When approaching the airfield ATC notified the crew a large part of their tail was missing.
The landing was uneventful.
Has this happened before to any Dauphin ?
When approaching the airfield ATC notified the crew a large part of their tail was missing.
The landing was uneventful.
Has this happened before to any Dauphin ?
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Thats a great aircraft that can fly with a major proportion of its tail missing
From what I've heard about it the crew didn't actually know what had happened at the time to the tail , anyone like to confirm this ??
From what I've heard about it the crew didn't actually know what had happened at the time to the tail , anyone like to confirm this ??
Join Date: Oct 2007
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I also know about a 206L that was flying over Lake Victoria when the vertical stabilizer broke in half folding over (not falling off). Luckily it was to the opposite side of the tailrotor.
I once have lost the left part of the tail plane (with its vertical stabilizer) of an AS 365 N2.
I was performing an air test including a vne. I initated acceleration to Vne from 5000' with a 25 / 30 deg. dive.
I didn't notice anything very unusual except a slight unstability in pitch with a marked tendency to pitch down at about 3000' and a much longer recovery trajectory, levelling at about 800'.
Marks on the tail fin indicated a short miss with the tail rotor.
The cause of this structural failure have been found to be a weakness in the root section of the tail plane (made of carbon fiber) maybe due to a former shock on the tail plane.
I was performing an air test including a vne. I initated acceleration to Vne from 5000' with a 25 / 30 deg. dive.
I didn't notice anything very unusual except a slight unstability in pitch with a marked tendency to pitch down at about 3000' and a much longer recovery trajectory, levelling at about 800'.
Marks on the tail fin indicated a short miss with the tail rotor.
The cause of this structural failure have been found to be a weakness in the root section of the tail plane (made of carbon fiber) maybe due to a former shock on the tail plane.
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Other operators of EC155 have found cracks in the bracket that failed.
One operator found a crack that went 70% through the bracket, thus only 30% holding the fin
One operator found a crack that went 70% through the bracket, thus only 30% holding the fin
