What: Ugandan helicopter Mil Mi-24 en route from Soroti to Garissa What: Ugandan helicopter Mil Mi-24 en route from Soroti to Garissa Where: Mount Kenya When: August 12, 2012 Who: 7 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: Three Mi-24 were heading to Somalia. A fourth helicopter did not crash.
Capt. William Letti and Lt. Patrick Nahamya were flying a peace-keeping mission when they crashed onto the side of Mount Kenya. They are calling it a “hard landing” i.e. in an “ungazetted” area. Two bodies were found on August 14. A third body was found a day later (August 15)
One choppers made it to Garissa, North Eastern Kenya. 18 people from that helicopters safely evacuated.
Two of the helicopters crashed, and were found burned.
A pilot from one of the helicopters sent a message requesting assistance for ground troops and the grounded chopper crew.
What: Eolo AgustaWestland AW109SP Where: Cerro Alpino, Mexico When: July 28, 2012, 23:40 Who: 3 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: The businessman and son of Fidel Herrera left the town of Atlacomulco after a meal with the former governor of the State of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto and died in a chopper crash.
Toluca Airport lost contact with the helicopter an hour prior to the accident.
The pilot Miguel Angel Rodriguez Lopez, co-pilot Rodolfo Caballero and the passenger, Armando Hinojosa-Garcia, were killed in the town of Juquipilco when the Augusta 109 chopper they were in crashed close to the Jiquipilco-Temoaya road, in the State of Mexico, North of Mexico City.
Search patrols located the wreckage early Sunday morning in a place known as “Hill of Alpine”
What: Eurocopter group Eurocopter AS 532AL Super Puma Where: La Palud-sur-Verdon, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence When: July 25, 2012, 13 h 40 Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities Why: In the village of La Palud-sur-Verdon, a Eurocopter group helicopter crashed, killing the six men aboard, including employees of Eurocopter. The newly assembled chipper was en route to the Albanian army when it apparently “caught a EDF power cable.”
Two of those aboard may have been Albanian. Climbers were dispatched to assist with the recovery.
What: Royal Brunei Air Force Bell 212 helicopter en route to Bandar Seri Begawan Where: Brunei, Borneo When: July 21,2012 Who: 11 passengers, 3 crew Why: Twelve died in the crash in Kuala Belait on the north coast of Borneo island. Two cadets survived and have been hospitalized. They are reported to be in stable condition, one with afractured arm and an injured leg, and the other having undergone surgery.
What: Eurocopter EC120 helicopter en route to Nanga Merit Kapit Division Where: Sarawak, Malaysia When: July 20, 2012 Who: 4 aboard Why: A privately owned helicopter with four people aboard went down Sungai Teriso estuary near Sebuyau near a small coastal town in Sarawak Borneo. The German pilot, Rko Steger swam for hours to reach Kampung Tebelu, Sebuyau. Fisherman pulled him from the river estuary. Three others —two men and a woman named Peter Ato Mayau, 53, Siti Khuzaima and Henry Loh—had been aboard the helicopter and are still missing. The two engineers and the quantity surveyor aboard the helicopter and that they were flying to Nanga Merit to look at a school project.
What: Mil Mi-2 Where: Mbouambe,Brazzaville, Congo When: July 16, 2012 Who: 2 aboard, 2 fatalities Why: A police Mi-2 helicopter crashed in the Congo. The two pilots, both Ukranian, were killed in the crash. The bodies of the pilots have been recovered and were sent to Brazzaville morgue. The Ukrainian Defense minister reported that the pilots were n ot part of a Ukrainian peacekeeping operation, but may have been employed by a Russian or Belarusian airline or employed by the UN.
What: Sudanese Air Force Mil Mi-17 (Mi-8T) Where: El Fasher, Sudan When: July 16, 2012 Who: 9 aboard, 7 fatalities Why: The aircraft reportedly went down near El Fasher according to one source “due to a technical fault” and another “gunned down.” Seven military officers on an administrative mission died at the scene. Two survivors were taken to military hospitals.
What: Hevilift Bell 206 Where: Mt Hagen in the PNG Southern Highlands. When: July 6, 2012 Who: 3 aboard Why: A helicopter is missing in Papua New Guinea. The pilot Russell Aikten recently achieved some fame after rescuing victims of the “Black Saturday” fire, and used to fly the Westpac Surf Life Saving Rescue Helicopter.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Hevilift are deploying teams to search for Captain Aikten, Chief pilot Antony Annan, and engineer Emmett Fynn. They left a mayday call about five minutes after leaving the InterOil Drill Rig site at 3.25pm Friday. They were en route to Creek to re-fuel and flying in an area reported to have low visibility at the time.
After days of searching, nothing has been found. Tuesday searchers will be using a helicopter fitted with a magnetometer, used to detect large mineral deposits. They hope it will pick up metal from the missing aircraft. The Australian Defence Force will be deploying two Blackhawks to assist in the search, in addition to the aero-medical evacuation team, additional observers and a downed aircraft recovery team.
What: Romanian Air Force AR 316B Alouette III Where: Buzau, Romania When: July 5, 2012 Who: 4 aboard Why: Captain Commander Docuz Mitica who was piloting the Alouette when it went down had over 1700 flight hours; and his copilot Viorel Cojocaru had 650 hours. Topoliceanu Catalin had more than 1,100 flying hours, Student Steven Corope?chi also died in the crash. One of the mechanics aboard might have been taking a flying lesson.
The Air Force School of Boboc lost radio contact with the helicopter at around 12:00 shortly before the helicopter crashed in Buzau County in the area known as Cross Comsoaiei right near the highway E85.
Rescue vehicles including water and foam trucks and ambulances responded but all four aboard died.
A committee of Air Force Staff will be investigating the crash and the findings made public.
What: UTAir Aviation Aérospatiale AS 350 B3 Ecureuil en route from Lensk to Talakan Where: Lensk, Russia When: July 4, 2012 18:11 Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities Why: Four people were aboard the UTAir helicopter when it crashed near Lensk Russia, killing the pilot and copilot and two passengers just moments after the pilots lost contact with ATC.
Initial reports said there were only three aboard. The helicopter normally performed a regular shuttle flight.
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What: Kenya Police Air Wing Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil Where: Ngong Hills, near Nairobi Kenya When: June 10, 2012 Who: 6 aboard Update: The Kenyan Commission of Inquiry established to look into the June 10 helicopter crash in the Kibiku Forest in Kenya is set to hold its first formal session on July 16. The container holding the wreckage will be stored at the Kenya Police Air-Wing facility at the Wilson Airport.
The Kenya Police Airwing Unit Commandant Rodgers Mbithi will be appearing as the first witness.
The pilots involved, Captain Nancy Gituanja and Luke Oyugi, underwent pilot training in the Ukraine in April 2009.
According to commission members, the intent of the commission is “…not to apportion blame, but to prevent occurrence.”
Fatalities included Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security George Saitoti and his permanent secretary Orwa Ojode, pilots Luke Oyugi and Nancy Gituanja and bodyguards Inspector Joshua Tonkei and Sergeant Thomas Murimi.
What: Chopper II LLC Aérospatiale AS 350B Astar en route from from Sedona to Scottsdale. Where: Sedona AZ When: June 30, 2012 Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities Why: A Aérospatiale AS 350B Astar, N729DP that was reported overdue on Saturday was found by a private pilot at 8:45 a..m. Sunday crashed into the Verde river south of Camp Verde, Arizona. According to FAA reports, “THE 4 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED.”
The wreckage was consistent with a pilot flying at low speed and low altitude.
The remains were found of the pilot, 70-year-old Raymond Perry of Phoenix, 68-year-old passenger Karen Stinn of Cave Creek and 63-year-old Mike Dunaway and 64-year-old Linda Dunaway of Glendale. They were taken to Yavapai County Medical Examiner’s Office. Perry is the CEO of the Arriba Mexican Grill restaurant chain.
A helicopter mechanic reported that it looked as if the chopper nose-dived and the blades from the chopper and the transmission tore through the main cabin where the pilot and passengers were sitting. Wind may have factored in. The helicopter was found in the Verde river.
What: Kenya Police Air Wing Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil Where: Ngong Hills, near Nairobi Kenya When: June 10, 2012 Who: 6 aboard Why: The team put together to investigate the June 10 crash has visited the crash site and said they will begin mapping the area. A representative of the victims will be at the team meetings in an effort to promote transparency. Two Kenyan Ministers were aboard the helicopter.
What: HeliCusco Sikorsky S-58ET en route from Mazuco to Cusco Where: Hualla Hualla Peru When: June 6 2012 Who: 14 aboard Why: The helicopter carrying two Peruvian crew members and 12 passengers (mostly Korean) is confirmed to have crashed in Hualla Hualla in the Cusco region in southern Peru on Mama Rosa mountain. The flight had gone missing on June 6 in a high Andes region of cloudy mountaintops. Difficulty retrieving the remains of eight Koreans, a Dutchman, a Swede, a Czech and three Peruvians, is due to the crash elevation of nearly 5,000 meters (16,393 feet). Between the elevation, weather and terrain, an air approach is impossible, and recovery crews had to approach by land. The consuls of Korea and Austria were in Cuzco to find out about the search for their fallen countrymen.
The recovery operation was suspended Saturday afternoon because of bad weather.
In addition to the police patrol, the parties of the High Mountain Unit included at least eight agents, a team of medical examiners and assistant prosecutors.
One of the videos below includes footage of locals hand carrying the remains down the mountain.
The eight Koreans who lost their lives in the accident will be returned to Korea on Sunday.
What: Robinson R44 helicopter, Austrian registration OE-XKS en route from Augsburg – EDMA, Germany to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Airport- LOWS, Salzburg, Austria Where: Teisendorf, Germany When: June 9, 2012 Who: 4 fatalities Why: Moments after the pilot told ATC he would be making an precautionary landing 15 km from their destination, ATC lost contact with the aircraft, and the helicopter crashed into trees and mountaneous terrain, bursting into flames near Teisendorf, Germany.
The pilot and three passengers on board the helicopter were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The foreign, non-scheduled cross-country flight originated at Worms, Germany, and was en route to Salzburg, Austria.
At 1520, the weather conditions at Salzburg, Austria, 12 miles east-southeast of the accident was wind 200 degrees at 3 knots, few clouds at 500 feet, broken ceiling at 6000 feet, visibility 6 miles, rain, temperature 57 degrees Fahrenheit (F). The German government is investigating.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net Contact photographer András Mihalik What: Schulter Planungs- und Ausführungs- GmbH Robinson R44 Raven I en route from Augsburg to Salzburg Airport Where: Teisendorf, southeast Bavaria, Germany When: June 9, 2012 Who: 4 aboard, 4 fatalities Why: 15 km away from his destination the pilot of a Robinson R44 Raven reported that he had to perform a precautionary landing, then disappeared from radar screens when he crashed in a forested hillside 200 meters from a farm near Teisendorf, southeast Bavaria. The pilot apparently flew into an area of sudden fog. At the time of the accident, there was low visibility, and there were low hanging clouds.
The chopper pilot had only recently finished training.
What: Kenya Police Air Wing Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil Where: Ngong Hills, near Nairobi Kenya When: June 10, 2012 8:30 a.m. Who: 6 aboard, 6 fatalities Why: Minister of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security George Saitoti and his permanent secretary Orwa Ojode, pilots Luke Oyugi and Nancy Gituanja and bodyguards Inspector Joshua Tonkei and Sergeant Thomas Murimi, died in a helicopter crash in Ngong Forest in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. The remains were badly burned. There were no survivors.
The helicopter was en route to a church service.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared three days of official mourning, and said a full investigation into the crash is planned. “On behalf of the Government and the people of Kenya I send my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and relatives of the six Kenyans.”
What: HeliCusco Sikorsky S-58ET en route from Mazuco to Cusco Where: Hualla Hualla Peru When: June 6 2012 Who: 14 aboard Why: Two Peruvian crew members and 12 passengers (mostly Korean) went missing in a high Andes region of cloudy mountaintops in Hualla Hualla. The tourists included two Austrians and the rest were South Koreans. The passenger list was published:
Viajaban Anto Ruiz
Bustapson Benge Anderz
Thois Young Hwan
Dusek Tomas
Kin Hoy Jun
Wuo Sang Bae
Kin Byungdal
Yoo Bongdar
Kupper Erick
Jeon Hyo Geon
Leen Hyung Suk
Rim Hee Wook
Alfredo Soberón (Pilot)
Luis Echegoyen (Copilot)
With snow at 4700 meters, search was impeded but was restarted friday morning. Rescue services are searching for the wreckage. The beacon has not been located. Searchers are still hoping the crew made a successful emergency landing.
What: Bailey Helicopters Ltd.Eurocopter AS 350B2 AStar flying out of CYXJ/Fort St John General Airport Where: Sleeping Beauty Mountain. Terrace BC, Canada When: June 1, 2012 Who: 3 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: At nine oclock, ATC lost contact with a training flight flown by 45-year-old Peter Bryant. Two other Bailey Helicopter employees were also aboard.
A search and rescue team including a Canadian Armed Forces Buffalo fixed-wing aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter out of Comox were all deployed to the electronic flight tracking system location and confirmed that the Eurocopter crashed in poor weather (described as “horrible”) into Sleeping Beauty Mountain. The area was undergoing rain and snow, and considered unsafe by an avalanche technician. One rescue searcher hiked to the crash site.
The remains have now been recovered, though it was a hazardous recovery, during which an avalanche occurred.
What: HeliSwiss Bell Jet Ranger training flight Where: Tschäggeten-Alp, Kandertal, Berner Oberland Switzerland When: May 24, 2012 Who: 3 aboard, 3 fatalities Why: Three Swiss pilots, one of them a flight instructor leading the training flight crashed after hitting a wire.
The flight went missing at 5:45, after which a search continued until darkness in the rugged terrain was too dangerous.
The Heliswiss helicopter crashed into a tributary of the Kander Valley. The site of the impact is a steep, wooded, rocky slope in Tschaggenten-Alp, an area with poor reception, which is hindering recovery services.
After a fire was spotted, rescue teams were flown in, halted overnight (with only security guards on hand) and recovery begun again May 25th.
A team has been assembled to care for the family members.
What: Enstrom F-28F helicopter en route from Elko, Nevada to Twin Falls Idaho Where: Twin Falls, Idaho. When: May 20, 2012 Who: Pilot Why: The pilot reported that ten miles south of the Twin Fall Airport, he contacted the control tower that was inbound for landing. However, then he told ATC that he would not be able to make it to the airport with the problems he was having.
He subsequently made a precautionary landing to an open field with control problems with the helicopter. During landing, the helicopter’s tail boom separated from the aircraft.
The pilot is the owner of the helicopter, and was not injured.
What: Pakistan Army helicopter en route from Gujranwala Where: Chenab river in Punjab, Pakistan When: May 23, 2012, 11:00 a.m. Who: 2 aboard Why: A pilot and trainee were on a routine training mission near Wazirabad in the two seat training helicopter when they crashed in the Chenab river 100 km from Lahore.
Search parties came to the scene when the helicopter lost communication with ATC. Three army choppers and divers from Mangla are engaged in the search.
The wreckage was apparently found or retrieved within six hours after the search began.
What: Venezuelan Army Mil Mi-17V5 Where: Felipe/Sub Tenient Nestor Arias Airport, Venezuela When: May 18, 2012 Who: 5 aboard, 4 fatalities, 1 injured Why: During training in San Felipe, the army chopper crashed, killing pilot Col. Oscar Martinez, First Lieutenant Ramses Bolivar and Ribas Daniel flight attendants, first sergeant, and Chon Billonto Ribas, Sergeant.
Alberto Castillo was not aboard but was injured in the crash, and taken to Hospital Central de San Felipe.
The personnel were members of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces.
Reports are that the tail rotor failed (broke?), and the aircraft crashed to the ground from a height of ten yards.
A special commission of inquiry was ordered by Defense Minister Henry Rangel Silva.
What: Aryan Aviation Agusta A109C en route to Kuchai Where: Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi India When: 09-MAY-2012 Who: 6 aboard, no fatalities Why: The Agusta A109C helicopter with chief minister of Jharkhand, Arjun Munda and his wife aboard crash-landed from a height of 25 feet at the Ranchi airport. Those aboard (the chief minister, his wife Meera, two pilots, a security officer and BJP MLA Barkuanr Gagrai) were rushed to the hospital and are being treated for injury.
The Minister was scheduled to inaugurate a power sub-station.
Munda sustained several injuries but is in stable condition at the ICU of Apollo Hospital.
On reaching Kuchai, the pilot had informed ATC that the helicopter had developed a rudder control problem. At Birsa Munda Airport, the pilot made four attempts to land, and then hovered to exhaust fuel. There was no fire when the twenty-year-old helicopter went down, as the fuel supply was exhausted.
The DGCA is investigating, and has appointed Sanit Kumar as the I.O.
What: Bond Offshore Helicopters Ltd. Eurocopter EC225LP Super Puma Mk2+ Where: 24 nautical miles off the coast of Aberdeen, North Sea When: May 10, 2012 Who: 16 passengers, 0 fatalities Why: The Bond helicopter was en route from Aberdeen Airport to the Maersk Resilient drilling rig when an emergency developed.
Pilots had to make a controlled descent into the North Sea when the gearbox oil pressure tanked. With the use of flotation equipment, the ditched helicopter stayed afloat.
The two crew and twelve passengers were safely recovered by afternoon. A cautionary measure suspending Eurocopter EC225 flights has been issued pending investigation. Examination revealed that the helicopter suffered a crack to the gearbox shaft.
The passengers were employed by Halliburton, Ensco, Brundt and Stag, and Conoco. The Jasmine field is operated by Conoco Phillips.
The rescue was coordinated by the Aberdeen coastguard, who was alerted at 12.15pm, and RNLI lifeboats. The initial call indicated that added that all everyone was on the raft. Nine were flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and five were taken by life boat.
In George’s Point of View
The choice to suspend the EC225 model until the kinks are worked out is a smart move. Better monitoring of potential cracks to the gearbox shaft may eliminate more “catastrophic failures” like the one that Eurocopter that crashed in 2009. In that event, the operator had put off replacing the main rotor gearbox, resulting in the death of 14 offshoremen and two helicopter crew.
The skill and training of the (May 10, 2012) 100% successful pilots and rescue crew cannot be commended highly enough. Sure, the media is calling this a textbook rescue, but somehow that description feels inadequate to me, leaving out the heroic human element involved. These guys are heroes.
