AAIU Reports

SYNOPSIS

The pilot took off in order to take his passenger friend on an airborne tour of the town of Fethard.  At between 900 and 1,100 ft, the pilot heard a bang from the rear of the helicopter. He then realised he had no directional controls using the pedals. The pilot autorotated into a grass field and managed to crash land the helicopter.  The horizontal stabilizer spar had failed in fatigue, and the departing stabilizer struck the tail rotor resulting in the bang heard by the pilot.  There was no fire and both occupants exited the helicopter without injury.  The Report makes two Safety Recommendations.

SYNOPSIS

The aircraft was hired out from the owner for a practice circuit detail. After a normal approach and touchdown on RWY 25, a gust of wind caused the nose of the aircraft to drop. The propeller struck the runway surface and both blade tips were damaged. There were no reported injuries and the pilot and his passenger exited the aircraft in the normal way.

SYNOPSIS

The Air Ambulance flight took off from Shannon Airport at 13.03 hrs enroute to St. Johns, Newfoundland and Miami.  On climbing through 16,000 ft the crew heard a loud bang and noted a rise in the temperature of the L.H. engine.  A visual inspection noted a section of the left de-ice boot had separated from the wing.  The LH engine was retarded to flight idle and the aircraft returned to Shannon, where it landed safely at 13.24 hrs.

 SYNOPSIS

At 17.53 hours EI-SEA was practicing touch and go circuits on Runway (RWY) 29 when the aircraft veered left off the runway and entered the grass area approx 250m from the (RWY) 29 threshold. The aircraft came to a rest on the grass facing in an easterly direction. The crash alarm sounded and the Airport Fire Service (AFS)  responded promptly. The pilot exited the aircraft unaided. There was no fire.

SYNOPSIS

While carrying out a night landing on the lawn beside Omega House, the tail rotor struck an unlit  car park light pole, leading to substantial damage to the helicopter.  The pilot exited the aircraft safely.  There was no fire.

SYNOPSIS

This cargo flight originated in Coventry, UK and it’s intended destination was Ireland West Airport, Knock, Co Mayo. In the event, poor weather conditions at Knock caused the commander to divert to Sligo Airport. Here, the weather was benign with Runway (RWY)11 in use. After touchdown the aircraft veered to the left and departed the tarmac surface onto the grass area, north of the runway. While the crash alarm sounded, as the Airport Fire Service (AFS) responded quickly, the Commander advised ATC that he did not require assistance and he steered the aircraft back on the runway and, thence, taxied slowly to the apron. On engine shutdown, an inspection showed damage to the left main wheel.

SYNOPSIS

The helicopter was on a scheduled platform support flight from Cork Airport (EICK) to Platforms Alpha and Bravo in the Kinsale Gas Field.  Following a rotors running passenger drop on Platform Bravo, the helicopter was subjected to intense squall activity, which necessitated the pilot flying (PF) initially inputting a roll correction, and then approximately 1 second later applying collective and lifting the helicopter airborne.  With only limited visual clues available, due to the intensity of rain and hail, the PF fought to retain control of the helicopter, while in close proximity to the deck.  The helicopter was then flown out of the squall and back to Cork Airport.  A subsequent technical inspection determined that the helicopter gearbox had been slightly over-torqued.  There were no injuries.  This Report makes two Safety Recommendations.

SYNOPSIS

Shortly after take off, the undercarriage failed to retract and the aircraft returned to the airport of departure where it landed safely.  On arrival on stand, an inspection was initiated, during which it was discovered that the left hand (LH) main landing gear (MLG) trunnion pin had sheared.

SYNOPSIS

The flight crew of EI-JFK declared an emergency at 10.09 hrs after they received a fire alarm indicating a fire in No. 2 engine. The aircraft had just taken off from Runway (RWY) 28 en route to New York. The Airport Fire Service (AFS) deployed all their first line vehicles at strategic points adjacent to RWY 28. The aircraft landed safely on RWY 28 at 10.25 hrs. and there were no reported injuries.  Following inspection by the Airport Fire Officer, the aircraft was towed to Stand 36 where the passengers disembarked normally.  Engineers inspected the aircraft and confirmed that they located a pneumatic duct leak in No. 2 engine. The electrical harness also sustained  overheat damage.

SYNOPSIS

Shortly after becoming airborne from a private grass airfield, all four occupants on board the aircraft heard a “thump”.  Following some troubleshooting, the Pilot Flying (PF) concluded that the aircraft had suffered a bird strike and subsequently reported this to Shannon Air Traffic Control (ATC).  The aircraft continued its climb to FL195 en-route to Lisbon, Portugal.  Sometime later, the PF observed on his fuel gauge that the port wing tip tank was registering empty, while some fuel still remained in the starboard tip tank.  As the PF was now no longer fully sure of his actual fuel contents, he decided that it would be prudent to divert to Jersey Airport.  After an uneventful landing at Jersey (17.07 hrs), an inspection of the aircraft found that the entire wingtip tank and a portion of the port wing/aileron assembly were missing. Subsequently, it was determined that the aircraft had struck a tree on departure from Brittas House Airfield.  There was no fire or reported injuries.