CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 1 of 7

Section/division Accident and Incident Investigation Division Form Number: CA 12-14

PRELIMINARY ACCIDENT REPORT

Reference number : CA18/2/3/9699

Name of Owner : Mesiglo (Pty) Ltd

Name of Operator : Private (Part 91)

Manufacturer : Eurocopter

Model : AS350B3

Nationality : South African

Registration markings : ZS-HHI

Place : Service road next to a railway line, Balfour district

Date : 9 April 2018

Time : 1115Z

All times given in this report are Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) and will be denoted by (Z). South

African Standard Time is UTC plus 2 hours.

The information provided herein is of a preliminary nature. Readers are advised that new

information may become available that may alter this preliminary report prior to the publication of

the final report.

This report is issued in accordance with Civil Aviation Regulation (CAR) 2011 Part 12.05.1(2)(a)

and ICAO Annex 13 Paragraph 7.1 or 7.2, whichever is applicable.

1. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) is conducting a safety

investigation into a helicopter accident that occurred on Monday, 9 April 2018 near

the town of Balfour in the Mpumalanga Province.

2. The investigation is being conducted in accordance with the international protocol

set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 13. This was

an on-site investigation as an accident investigation team from the Accident and

Incident Investigation Division (AIID) was dispatched to the site on the same day the

accident had occurred.

CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 2 of 7

Figure 1: The helicopter ZS-HHI (photograph was taken at FACT)

3. History of flight

3.1 The pilot, recently purchased the helicopter and had conducted several flights in the

Cape Town area between 5 and 7 April 2018 where he took delivery of the

helicopter. On Sunday, 8 April 2018, he ferried the helicopter from Cape Town

International aerodrome (FACT) to Heidelberg aerodrome (FAHG) where he had a

hangar. The next day he flew from FAHG to a private helipad near Nigel where he

landed and shut down the helicopter. He was met at the helipad by four of his

employees with the intention of taking them on a local scenic flight to view the area.

3.2 Before they commenced with the flight, the pilot provided the four passengers with a

safety briefing and explained to them how the safety harnesses worked, as some of

them had never flown before. All the occupants were issued with a headset and

they were able to communicate with one another. Three of the passengers were

seated in the rear seats and one person was seated in the left front seat next to the

pilot. After they had taken off, they flew in south-easterly direction towards the pilot’s

farm, which was located near the town of Balfour.

3.3 The pilot reported that he was circling anti-clockwise overhead the farmstead at a

height of approximately 50 to 100 feet above ground level (AGL). This was a

maneuver whereby the helicopter hovers in a circle around the nose as an axis. The

pilot reported that he was flying sideways at approximately 30 knots when the

helicopter began to yaw and spin uncontrollably in an anti-clockwise direction. The

CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 3 of 7

pilot was unable to recover from the inadvertent yaw and lost control of the

helicopter. He attempted to cushion the landing by applying maximum collective

pitch, but it had very little effect on the rate of descent and the helicopter impacted

with the ground heavily in a vertical downwards attitude.

3.4 Emergency services in the town of Balfour were contacted by the pilot and they

responded to the accident scene. The three passengers at the rear seats of the

helicopter were not injured. The passenger in the left front seat was injured when

her head impacted with the overhead rotor brake control panel. She was assisted

by paramedics and was admitted to a private hospital in Alberton for further medical

attention. The pilot also suffered from a blow to his head and a laceration to his

upper right arm when the front section of the right skid gear was deformed, bending

90° upwards and penetrating the cabin/cockpit area to the right of the pilot during

the impact sequence.

3.5 The helicopter was substantially damaged in the accident sequence. Additional

damage was caused to the overhead power supply cables as well as one support

pylon from the Transnet railway services. One of the two railroad lines was taken

out of commission until the pylon could be replaced.

3.6 The accident occurred during daylight conditions at a geographical position that was

determined to be 26°36’42.10” South 028°32’39.70” East, at an elevation of 5 210

feet above mean sea level (AMSL).

Figure 2: Google Earth overlay of where the accident occurred

The farmstead they were circling

CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 4 of 7

Figure 3: The helicopter as it came to rest next to the railway line

Figure 4: A different view of the helicopter as it came to rest

CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 5 of 7

Figure 5: A view of the cabin/cockpit area

Figure 6: The railroad electrical support pylon that fractured and needed to be replaced

CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 6 of 7

4. Findings

Although the investigation is on-going, the following findings have been made:

4.1 The pilot was the holder of a valid private pilot licence and he had the helicopter

type endorsed in his licence.

4.2 The pilot held a valid aviation medical certificate that was issued by a designated

medical examiner.

4.3 According to available records, the pilot had flown 11.2 hours on the helicopter type

in the last 90 days, which include the ferry flight from FACT to FAHG, which was 6.6

hours.

4.4 This was a private flight and no flight plan was filed for the flight.

4.5 The helicopter was in possession of a valid certificate of airworthiness.

4.6 The last mandatory periodic inspection (MPI) that was carried out on the helicopter

prior to the accident flight was certified on 22 March 2018 at 2 197.2 airframe hours

by an approved aircraft maintenance organisation (AMO).

4.7 The skid gear was substantially deformed, with the right front skid penetrating the

cabin/cockpit area on the right-hand side and injuring the pilot.

4.8 Apart from the roof structure, the cockpit/cabin area remained intact. The two front

seat passengers were secured by the four-point safety harness and the passengers

in the aft were secured by the helicopter lap straps.

4.9 The main rotor blades display evidence of severe deformation, with one of the

blades partially fractured, at approximately mid span along the blade surface.

4.10 Overcast conditions prevailed and the pilot indicated the wind to be variable at 20 to

25 knots at the time of the accident.

4.11 Emergency medical services responded and arrived at the accident site and one of

the passengers was admitted to hospital. The pilot was also injured but was treated

by a medical practitioner in Balfour.

CA 12-14 01 FEBRUARY 2017 Page 7 of 7

4.12 By the time the accident investigation team arrived at the scene overcast conditions

prevailed and there was no wind.

5. Recommendations

5.1 No safety recommendation has been issued.

6. Conclusions

6.1 The SACAA investigation is on-going and we will be looking into other aspects of

this accident which may or may not have safety implications.

-END-