What: UN World Food Programme Mil Mi-8 “Hip-H” helicopter delivering food to Pakistan
Where: near Manchar Lake
When: Oct 1, 2010
Who: 13 aid workers aboard, 3 injured seriously
Why: The helicopter loaded with high-energy biscuts from the U.N.’s World Food Program, got off balance while landing, and crashed. (Alternate reports say the chopper tried to land on an embankment or had a technical error.)
The injured were flown to Hyderabad then transported to hospitals by ambulance.
A dozen Augusta Westland helicopters Ontario purchased for $144 million have problems with tail rotors falling off.
EASA issued an air worthiness directive for the AW139. A directive from the European agency last Aug. 19 ordered helicopter owners to replace the tail rotors after 600 hours of flight following a fatal accident “possibly caused by cracks in a TR (tail rotor) blade.” A Feb. 17 directive called for inspections and maintenance of the tail rotors every 25 hours in the air.
In Ontario, Augusta Westland helicopters are in use as air ambulance helicopters. Ornge Founder Dr. Chris Mazza was fired, and an investigation is underway.
ORNGE helicopters are forbidden from entering U.S. airspace and must land at the border and use land ambulances. Issues relate to ORNGE’s new AgustaWestland helicopters, not the old fleet. A ground protocol exists for transporting burn unit or neurology bed patients. Former deputy minister of government services Ron McKerlie is now interim CEO of ORNGE, now non-profit.
What: Vertical CFI Helicopters Robinson R22 Beta II
Where: Rio Vista California
When: Feb 19 2012
Who: 1 aboard
Why: The helicopter clipped the plane over Rio Vista. The chopper was eight miles from the airport when it crashed.
Although the contact broke off the tail of the chopper and ended the severed rotor up 50 feet from the fuselage, the pilot walked away. She was reported to be unhurt; She is an experienced commercial airplane pilot who was logging night-flying hours alone toward a helicopter license.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 7508Y Make/Model: R22 Description: R-22
Date: 02/19/2012 Time: 1844
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: Y Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: RIO VISTA State: CA Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N7508Y, A ROBINSON R22 HELICOPTER, AND N433JC, A BEECH A33 AIRCRAFT
COLLIDED, NEAR RIO VISTA, CA
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: SACRAMENTO, CA (WP25) Entry date: 02/21/2012
The first responders to the Sunday crash in India’s Naneghat Hills compromised the investigation of a crash by moving the wreckage before investigators arrived. The United Helicharters flight from Juhu to Aurangabad to Nagpur crashed in the Naneghat Hills at an altitude of 2,000 feet.
The bodies of the deceased and the flight data recorders were also removed before the DGCA arrived.
Two pilots and three passengers died in the twin-engine Bell 212 crash during a foggy flight. The crash occurred on Sept 29, 2013 at 8:15 a.m..
Protocol demands that except for rescue of survivors, the wreckage not be touched until the DGCA has arrived.
Police and fire teams removed the bodies of captain Anshu Kumar Matta, captain Surendra Singh Bhadauria, co captain Allen Martin, technician Dean D’Souza and engineer Yatin Wakde, whose bodies were burned in the crash. The recovery team also failed to record the recovery process which is a violation of protocol, just as in the Mangalore crash.
Pictured: A Cougar-Helicopter/Sikorsky-S-92A
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Michael Durning
What: Cougar Sikorsky S-92 helicopter
Where: Halifax airport
When: Sept 23
Who: 17 people on board
Why: Chopper experienced engine failure in one of its engines while returning from an offshore rig. The helicopter landed safely and no one was injured.
What: “AufderHeide Flying Service LLC” Ayres/Snow S2R-600 Thrush Commander
Where: Southwest of De Witt, AR
When: May 4, 2010
Who: pilot Roger Dale Nichols, 51, of DeWitt
Why: The pilot was on a job spraying chemicals on a field west of U.S. 165. When he did not return, the the Civil Air Patrol and the Arkansas Department of Emergency commenced a search, and found the wreckage.
On Jun 25, 2013, an Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 V5 newly acquired helicopter was on a rescue/medical mission assisting victims of floods in Northern India when it crashed in bad weather (rain and fog). An Indian newspaper says there were 19 aboard, including NDRF, ITBP and IAF personnel.
The helicopter was from Barrackpore Air Force Station in West Bengal under the Eastern Air Command.
The helicopter crashed near the pilgrimage site of Gaurikund. Flash floods in the area are having dire consequences.
According to one report, eight bodies were recovered, five of whom were crew. There appear to be no survivors of the crash.
At the time of the crash, the helicopter was on it’s third run. more than 7,500 people are reported as being still stranded by the flooding in the hills of Uttarakhand. Buildings are being washed away, and roads flooded.
A court of Inquiry has been convened to investigate the cause of the helicopter crash. The flight recorder has been recovered.
A later report amends 19 to 20 aboard. Twenty bodies have been recovered. The air chief marshal offered condolences on the death of 5 IAF, 6 Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 9 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel who died.
Air Force officials said their personnel on the chopper that crashed were: Wg Cdr Darryl Castelino, Flt Lt. K Praveen, Flt Lt Tapan Kapoor, JWO A.K. Singh and Sgt Sudhakar Yadav.
The NDRF personnel were: Commandant Nitya Nand Gupta, 48, resident of Kanpur; Inspector Bhim Singh, 49, resident of Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir; Sub Inspector Satish Kumar, 44, resident of Bhiwani in Haryana; Constable K. Vinaygan, 28, resident of Chitoor in Andhra Pradesh; Constable Bassavaraj Yaragatti, 31, resident of Gadag in Karnataka; Constable Santosh Kumar Paswan, 24, resident of Koderma in Jharkhand; Constable Sanjiva Kumar, 27, resident of Balia in Uttar Pradesh; Constable Shashi Kant Ramesh Pawar, 31, resident of Dhulia in Maharashtra; and Constable Ahir Rao Ganesh, 32, resident of Jalgaon in Maharashtra.
The six ITBP personnel were: Commandant Nand Ram, 27, Sub Inspector Jayender Prasad, 55, Constable Jomon P.G., 26, Constable Bibhuti Roy, 26, Constable Sarvesh Kumar, 31, and Constable Ajay Lal, 23.
