Sky Shuttle AW139 ditches in HK Harbour
Or god forbid, the Bell 222...
Not-withstanding, yes, they had a very good run with the 222 and 76 and didn't drop any of them into the South China Sea.
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Reference 'HueyLoach's' comment in Post #248, "...Or god forbid, the Bell 222 with the infamous LTS101 engines during the EAA pre-Jurassic times which BTW didn't give us any serious problems..." I agree, from what I understand the Bell 222 with the LTS101's did provide a good service although perhaps not the most suitable helicopter for this type of work. A good group of expat engineers worked closely with Textron Lycoming on the engine reliability and this resulted in them using engines with the highest modification level in the LTS101 fleet.
And 'gulliBell's' Post #252, "...Not quite "untarnised" history, didn't a 222 roll down the hill at Coloane and beat itself to death? At least the S76C+ that rolled over picked a good time to do it, when the engines weren't running
Not-withstanding, yes, they had a very good run with the 222 and 76 and didn't drop any of them into the South China Sea..." No, early EAA operations weren't quite 'untarnished', on at least two occasions helicopters were 'almost dropped' into the South China Sea when both suffered sheared drives on the engine-driven fuel pump. On both occasions, the helicopters made safe run-on landings at diversion airfields, one at Kai Tak and the other at Zhuhai. The common problem was traced to a manufacturing (machining) fault but not before a fatal accident in Hawaii. Again no, the 222 didn't "...roll down the hill at Coloane.." it rolled over during maintenance ground-runs - then it "..beat itself to death.." on the helipad.
From what I understand, these early EAA times were thrown into a degree of chaos when a good number of pilots and engineers were either fired, forced out or quit following the abrupt replacement of the well-like American CEO by an Indian guy and his English sidekick from Hong Kong Airlines who both turned out to be real SOB's.
And 'gulliBell's' Post #252, "...Not quite "untarnised" history, didn't a 222 roll down the hill at Coloane and beat itself to death? At least the S76C+ that rolled over picked a good time to do it, when the engines weren't running
Not-withstanding, yes, they had a very good run with the 222 and 76 and didn't drop any of them into the South China Sea..." No, early EAA operations weren't quite 'untarnished', on at least two occasions helicopters were 'almost dropped' into the South China Sea when both suffered sheared drives on the engine-driven fuel pump. On both occasions, the helicopters made safe run-on landings at diversion airfields, one at Kai Tak and the other at Zhuhai. The common problem was traced to a manufacturing (machining) fault but not before a fatal accident in Hawaii. Again no, the 222 didn't "...roll down the hill at Coloane.." it rolled over during maintenance ground-runs - then it "..beat itself to death.." on the helipad. From what I understand, these early EAA times were thrown into a degree of chaos when a good number of pilots and engineers were either fired, forced out or quit following the abrupt replacement of the well-like American CEO by an Indian guy and his English sidekick from Hong Kong Airlines who both turned out to be real SOB's.
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Preliminary report here:
(no new info as far as I can tell)
http://www.cad.gov.hk/reports/AB-02-2010e.pdf
(no new info as far as I can tell)
http://www.cad.gov.hk/reports/AB-02-2010e.pdf
Helicopter Accident -3 July 2010
AgustaWestland AW139 Registration Mark B-MHJ
(All times are in UTC. Hong Kong time is UTC+8 hours.)
1. East Asia Airlines is a helicopter operator established in Macao, China. It provides chartered passenger service between Macao and Hong Kong. On 3 July 2010, the accident flight EA 206A was operated by two pilots with 11 passengers onboard. The Actual Gross Weight of the helicopter before take-off was 5 971 kg, which was within the Maximum Gross Weight for Take-off / Landing of 6 400 kg for the helicopter. The helicopter was within both longitudinal and lateral centre of gravity limits.
2. The helicopter took off from Sheung Wan / Sky Shuttle Heliport in Hong Kong at 0400 hours. The departure was uneventful. The flight was conducted under Visual Flight Rules, which required the pilot to remain clear of cloud and in visual contact with the surface. At the time of the accident, the wind speed was 7 knots at a direction of 255 degrees. The visibility was more than 10 km.
3. The captain was the ‘pilot flying’ in the right seat. The first officer was the ‘pilot not flying’ in the left seat, assisting the captain in carrying out flight procedures. After departing from the heliport, the helicopter was climbing on a north-westerly heading. When passing approximately 350 feet Above Mean Sea Level at about 70 knots Indicated Airspeed, the crew had completed the post-takeoff checks. Shortly afterwards, both pilots heard a loud bang from the rear of the helicopter followed by airframe vibrations. At the same time, the captain found that he had no authority on the pedal controls and determined that the tail rotor of the helicopter had failed. Immediately, the captain put the helicopter into autorotation. Whilst in autorotation, he commanded the first officer to shut down both engines in accordance with the emergency procedures and the first officer carried out the commands accordingly. Also, the captain transmitted a ‘MAYDAY’ call. The captain made a controlled ditching with the helicopter maintained in level attitudes and low forward speed at touchdown. Once the helicopter touched the water, all the four emergency floats were inflated automatically. The time between the loud bang heard by the pilots and the touchdown on water was about 16 seconds.
4. After the helicopter was floating firmly on water, both pilots exited the cockpit expeditiously through the emergency exits on their respective cockpit doors. The
captain then opened the starboard passenger door from the outside. Both pilots instructed and assisted the passengers to evacuate from the helicopter. After ensuring that nobody was left onboard, the captain left the helicopter. All pilots and passengers were rescued by the nearby vessels. The 11 passengers were taken to hospital for medical examination. Six passengers received treatment for minor injuries. All passengers were discharged from hospital on the same day. The helicopter subsequently overturned and the entire fuselage became submerged but the emergency floats kept the helicopter floating upside down.
5. The Chief Inspector of Accidents has ordered an Inspector’s Investigation into the cause of the accident in accordance with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations (Laws of Hong Kong, Chapter 448B). The investigation is being conducted by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) with the assistance from the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao Special Administrative Region, Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo of Italy, Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the United Kingdom, Transportation Safety Board of Canada and AgustaWestland, the manufacturer of the AW 139 helicopter.
6. In the evening of 3 July 2010, the helicopter was lifted out of water. The top section of the vertical fin, the tail rotor, the tail gearbox and the associated drive shaft, control rods and cover fairings of the helicopter were found missing. After extensive underwater search, the tail rotor and the tail gearbox were salvaged from the harbour on 14 July 2010 but one of the four blades of the tail rotor was still missing. Search of the remaining missing parts is on-going.
7. The accident investigation team conducted interviews with the captain, the first officer, some of the passengers and the command personnel of the Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department and Marine Department who responded to the accident. The data recorded in the Multi-purpose Flight Recorder has been successfully downloaded for analysis. The Health and Usage Monitoring System memory card has been sent to AAIB for data download and analysis. The helicopter flight documents, maintenance records, weather information and radio communication recording with air traffic control have also been collected for investigation purposes. CAD has arranged the tail rotor and the tail gearbox to be sent to AAIB for examination, test and analysis.
8. Based on past experience, the investigation into accident of such scale is expected to take more than one year to complete. However, during the course of the investigation, should safety recommendations be considered necessary, they will be promulgated to the parties concerned before the final report is published.
AgustaWestland AW139 Registration Mark B-MHJ
(All times are in UTC. Hong Kong time is UTC+8 hours.)
1. East Asia Airlines is a helicopter operator established in Macao, China. It provides chartered passenger service between Macao and Hong Kong. On 3 July 2010, the accident flight EA 206A was operated by two pilots with 11 passengers onboard. The Actual Gross Weight of the helicopter before take-off was 5 971 kg, which was within the Maximum Gross Weight for Take-off / Landing of 6 400 kg for the helicopter. The helicopter was within both longitudinal and lateral centre of gravity limits.
2. The helicopter took off from Sheung Wan / Sky Shuttle Heliport in Hong Kong at 0400 hours. The departure was uneventful. The flight was conducted under Visual Flight Rules, which required the pilot to remain clear of cloud and in visual contact with the surface. At the time of the accident, the wind speed was 7 knots at a direction of 255 degrees. The visibility was more than 10 km.
3. The captain was the ‘pilot flying’ in the right seat. The first officer was the ‘pilot not flying’ in the left seat, assisting the captain in carrying out flight procedures. After departing from the heliport, the helicopter was climbing on a north-westerly heading. When passing approximately 350 feet Above Mean Sea Level at about 70 knots Indicated Airspeed, the crew had completed the post-takeoff checks. Shortly afterwards, both pilots heard a loud bang from the rear of the helicopter followed by airframe vibrations. At the same time, the captain found that he had no authority on the pedal controls and determined that the tail rotor of the helicopter had failed. Immediately, the captain put the helicopter into autorotation. Whilst in autorotation, he commanded the first officer to shut down both engines in accordance with the emergency procedures and the first officer carried out the commands accordingly. Also, the captain transmitted a ‘MAYDAY’ call. The captain made a controlled ditching with the helicopter maintained in level attitudes and low forward speed at touchdown. Once the helicopter touched the water, all the four emergency floats were inflated automatically. The time between the loud bang heard by the pilots and the touchdown on water was about 16 seconds.
4. After the helicopter was floating firmly on water, both pilots exited the cockpit expeditiously through the emergency exits on their respective cockpit doors. The
captain then opened the starboard passenger door from the outside. Both pilots instructed and assisted the passengers to evacuate from the helicopter. After ensuring that nobody was left onboard, the captain left the helicopter. All pilots and passengers were rescued by the nearby vessels. The 11 passengers were taken to hospital for medical examination. Six passengers received treatment for minor injuries. All passengers were discharged from hospital on the same day. The helicopter subsequently overturned and the entire fuselage became submerged but the emergency floats kept the helicopter floating upside down.
5. The Chief Inspector of Accidents has ordered an Inspector’s Investigation into the cause of the accident in accordance with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations (Laws of Hong Kong, Chapter 448B). The investigation is being conducted by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) with the assistance from the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao Special Administrative Region, Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo of Italy, Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the United Kingdom, Transportation Safety Board of Canada and AgustaWestland, the manufacturer of the AW 139 helicopter.
6. In the evening of 3 July 2010, the helicopter was lifted out of water. The top section of the vertical fin, the tail rotor, the tail gearbox and the associated drive shaft, control rods and cover fairings of the helicopter were found missing. After extensive underwater search, the tail rotor and the tail gearbox were salvaged from the harbour on 14 July 2010 but one of the four blades of the tail rotor was still missing. Search of the remaining missing parts is on-going.
7. The accident investigation team conducted interviews with the captain, the first officer, some of the passengers and the command personnel of the Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department and Marine Department who responded to the accident. The data recorded in the Multi-purpose Flight Recorder has been successfully downloaded for analysis. The Health and Usage Monitoring System memory card has been sent to AAIB for data download and analysis. The helicopter flight documents, maintenance records, weather information and radio communication recording with air traffic control have also been collected for investigation purposes. CAD has arranged the tail rotor and the tail gearbox to be sent to AAIB for examination, test and analysis.
8. Based on past experience, the investigation into accident of such scale is expected to take more than one year to complete. However, during the course of the investigation, should safety recommendations be considered necessary, they will be promulgated to the parties concerned before the final report is published.
Last edited by Runway101; 27th Jul 2010 at 12:00.
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It doesn't really tell us a lot we don't already know. Although interesting to see the involvement of the UK AAIB - perhaps that will allay the "cover up" fears as suggested earlier in this thread!
Wait and see...
Wait and see...
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Wait and see...
As I understand it, it is the regulator/investigator from the country of manufacture of the various elements of the aircraft who are involved in the crash investigation, hence Transport Canada and the Italians.
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The Tail Gearbox is going to the UK, manufactured by Westlands, not the tail section.
MPFR is Penny and Giles, HUMS is GE all UK based so the AAIB is the logical choice if you want answers.
The report does not state how long from the initial bang and vibrations to it all going quiet after the TGB departed, normally this is designed for the attachment bolts to shear but in this case the whole mounting structure has gone too.
MPFR is Penny and Giles, HUMS is GE all UK based so the AAIB is the logical choice if you want answers.
The report does not state how long from the initial bang and vibrations to it all going quiet after the TGB departed, normally this is designed for the attachment bolts to shear but in this case the whole mounting structure has gone too.
Originally Posted by The Black Dragon
Rumour has it,
That ( one ) TR blade has been removed from a Macau based 139 last week, with a suspected crack found at the root end or D-link attachment point area.
Seems a good find by the engineers, but raises more questions than answers.
That ( one ) TR blade has been removed from a Macau based 139 last week, with a suspected crack found at the root end or D-link attachment point area.
Seems a good find by the engineers, but raises more questions than answers.
I believe there is a Service Letter regarding the sacrifical layer butt joint issue. The other issues are usually solved by sending a photo to Agusta, who will usually confirm that it is a non-issue, or will ask for the blade to be replaced under warranty so that they can have a closer look at it.
Better to be safe than sorry, so good on the boys for removing the blade to send away for investigation, but try not to read too much into it.
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Not very conclusive I'd say. The only thing that puzzles me is that the HUMS was damaged from sea water. Correct me if I'm wrong, aren't they supposed to water proof to a degree?
At least no more boll**ks about birdstrike on the TR being the cause
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At least no more boll**ks about birdstrike on the TR being the cause
At any rate, just another document from the HK CAD that talks a lot but says effectively nothing.