© ERLEND KARLSEN
their lowest altitude en route was 50 m (165 ft.) and said the flight felt safe “without drama or discomfort.” They landed at 16:50 and the pilot again shut down the engine. Five more passengers boarded, taking off at 16:59 on
what was planned to be a slightly shorter flight along a similar route. At 17:02, one back-seat passenger sent a friend a photograph on social media. In it, no sky is visi- ble ahead of the aircraft. Instead, the instrument panel indicates the helicopter was pitched down 30 degrees and rolling 10 degrees left at an indicated air- speed of 90 kt. About five minutes after take-
off, someone approached the loadmaster to report hearing a loud bang, then pointed out flames and a column of thick black smoke on the hillside above Kvenvik. Hearing no helicopter noise, the loadmaster contacted the company’s air traffic center, then the police, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) for northern Norway, and air traffic control at Alta Airport. A Cospas- Sarsat satellite began relaying signals to the JRCC from the helicopter’s emergency locator transmitter (ELT) at 17:06, and traffic center staff realized that the helicopter’s position tracking had ended at 17:08. Search-and-rescue efforts began at once. At 17:16, a Bell 205 operated by Heli-Team AS en route from Banak to Kvænangen spotted the accident scene and landed, finding the AS350 almost completely consumed by fire. Only the passenger in the right front seat had managed to escape. He was flown to the University Hospital of North Norway, where he died of his injuries the following day.
The Aircraft LN-OFU was essentially a brand-new helicopter, having flown just 72 hours since its airworthiness review certifi- cate was granted on Jun. 12, 2019. Its first 100-hour inspection had been performed ahead of schedule on the day of the accident and found no anomalies beyond a slight oil leak from the gasket around the main gearbox input shaft. After the inspection, the aircraft flew only the com- bined 22 minutes of the ferry and two sightseeing flights. It was not fitted with either of the two crash-re-
sistant fuel systems available as optional equipment. To prevent overloading the main rotor system, the
AS350’s hydraulic system limits the force produced by its flight-control servo actuators to a maximum of 193 kg (425 lb.). “Servo transparency” occurs when greater force is required to control main rotor blade pitch due to some combination of speed, weight, g-loading, density altitude, and collective pitch. The helicopter is apt to roll
right and pitch up while the flight controls seem to have locked. While the AS350 flight manual describes this condition as “self-correcting,” it can cause significant alti- tude and attitude excursions unless the pilot can com- pensate with muscle power or promptly reduce the loading.
The Pilot The 27-year-old pilot held a Swedish commercial certifi- cate and an unrestricted first-class medical certificate. He’d obtained his AS350 type rating at Airbus Helicopters’ facility in Marignane, France, in May 2018, scoring 96% correct on the knowledge test and passing all elements of the flight assessment. He subsequently completed company operator profi-
ciency checks in August 2018 and February, April, and August 2019 as well as an April 2019 flight test with a Norwegian government examiner. Only the 2018 type-rating course included a practical demonstration of servo transparency. His 256 hours of career flight time included 17 in the AS350 and 50 total hours conducting passenger flights. Company colleagues described him as “meticulous, structured, calm, and cautious.”
JUNE 2022 ROTOR 63
The accident aircraft, an Airbus Helicopters AS350 B3, registered as LN-OFU.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
