Loose rotor factor in helicopter crash
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Loose rotor factor in helicopter crash
From the NZ Herald, 21.06.2002
A helicopter that crashed near Taumarunui last year, killing three men, did not have its tail rotor properly reattached after a routine safety inspection, a coroner has been told.
Pilot Simon Green, aged 51, of Papakura, and his companions, Gene Crafer, 25, of Tuakau, and John Mennie, 44, of Piha, died instantly when the Iroquois crashed on hilly farmland south of Taumarunui on June 4 last year.
Ian McClelland, Transport Accident and Investigation Commission air accident investigator, told an inquest in Taumarunui District Court yesterday that part of the helicopter's tail rotor was not properly secured.
"The tail rotor had been removed as part of a scheduled inspection of the helicopter two months earlier," he said in a report on the crash.
"During the refitting of the tail rotor, the bolts holding part of the pitch-control mechanism in place were probably not secured by split pins as required.
"The bolts eventually came loose, causing the loss of tail control."
Mr McClelland said sleet and ice might have played a part in the accident, probably blocking the engine air intakes.
He said the pilot could have used an alternate engine air intake, which should have restored engine power.
Senior Sergeant Steve Mastrovich of Taumarunui said witnesses had told him they saw parts of the helicopter fall off before it crashed.
When Mr Mastrovich arrived at the scene the helicopter was still burning and there was no sign of survivors.
The wreckage was widely spread and it took police several hours to find the bodies.
The scene was cordoned off, but six unauthorised people, all representatives of Wanganui Aero Works, the helicopter's owners, were allowed on to the scene by a guard the next day.
The aircraft technical log, flight manual and maintenance release form have not been found.
John Unsworth, representing Aero Works, said there was no evidence to suggest that the firm's representatives did anything wrong.
They left the scene when asked, and without the scene guard's evidence no one could say they were unsupervised at the site.
The hearing continues.
Pilot Simon Green, aged 51, of Papakura, and his companions, Gene Crafer, 25, of Tuakau, and John Mennie, 44, of Piha, died instantly when the Iroquois crashed on hilly farmland south of Taumarunui on June 4 last year.
Ian McClelland, Transport Accident and Investigation Commission air accident investigator, told an inquest in Taumarunui District Court yesterday that part of the helicopter's tail rotor was not properly secured.
"The tail rotor had been removed as part of a scheduled inspection of the helicopter two months earlier," he said in a report on the crash.
"During the refitting of the tail rotor, the bolts holding part of the pitch-control mechanism in place were probably not secured by split pins as required.
"The bolts eventually came loose, causing the loss of tail control."
Mr McClelland said sleet and ice might have played a part in the accident, probably blocking the engine air intakes.
He said the pilot could have used an alternate engine air intake, which should have restored engine power.
Senior Sergeant Steve Mastrovich of Taumarunui said witnesses had told him they saw parts of the helicopter fall off before it crashed.
When Mr Mastrovich arrived at the scene the helicopter was still burning and there was no sign of survivors.
The wreckage was widely spread and it took police several hours to find the bodies.
The scene was cordoned off, but six unauthorised people, all representatives of Wanganui Aero Works, the helicopter's owners, were allowed on to the scene by a guard the next day.
The aircraft technical log, flight manual and maintenance release form have not been found.
John Unsworth, representing Aero Works, said there was no evidence to suggest that the firm's representatives did anything wrong.
They left the scene when asked, and without the scene guard's evidence no one could say they were unsupervised at the site.
The hearing continues.
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Simon Green was a longtime friend and I know that the family are going to push for criminal charges to be looked at. There have been a couple of recent accidents here downunder where it has surfaced that things werent put back where they were supposed to be, and the result has been a written off machine.
Autororate.
Autororate.
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Everybody makes misteaks.
While making a cursory walk-around of a brand new A Star that was being prepped for shipment to Hawaii I noticed that the pitchlinks (2) were minus the required cotter pins (split pins). I mentioned it to the senior mechanic and he expressed a great deal of concern because he flew in the helicopter from Texas to Everett, Washington.
