The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A helicopter crash at Fenland Airfield in July was caused when the pilot lost control of the aircraft during a descent.
A report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch says the incident, which took place at a public show at Holbeach St Johns, involved a Rotorway Executive 90 helicopter made in 1994.
No-one was injured in the crash at 2.30pm when the 36-year-old pilot was heading to refuel.
“He arranged with an airfield steward to keep bystanders well away while he was starting up and preparing to lift,” says the report.
It added that the pilot “forgot” he was travelling downwind and the helicopter initially handled correctly, but it suddenly increased its rate of descent.
“Despite his efforts to prevent this it struck the ground heavily with the rear skid, before pitching forward.
The main skids and main rotor then struck the ground and the helicopter rolled over.
“The pilot, secured by a full harness was not injured and was able to exit via the passenger door,” the report added.
The pilot had “limited experience and lack of recency” which may have created “challenging” conditions.
The pilot had 71 hours of flying experience, 18 of which were on type and he had not flown in the preceding 28 days. He had flown 11 hours in the last 90 days.
In conclusion, the investigation decided that the “inadvertent selection of a downwind approach created a high pilot workload and probably created conditions which required more engine power to arrest the descent than the helicopter could produce.”
“The absence of airspeed will also result in loss of transitional lift. In addition, with the helicopter flying downwind, more power will be required to decelerate to a stationary condition than in an into-wind approach.”
There was extensive damage to the helicopter as a result of the crash.
Reports from the day stated that members of the public watched in horror as the helicopter hit the ground during the show.
