B412, vicinity Karlsborg Sweden, 2003

B412, vicinity Karlsborg Sweden, 2003

Summary

On 25 March 2003, the crew of a Bell 412 lost control of the aircraft as a result of pilot mishandling associated with the development of a Vortex Ring State.

Event Details
When
25/03/2003
Event Type
HF, LOC
Day/Night
Day
Flight Conditions
VMC
Flight Details
Aircraft
Type of Flight
Military/State
Flight Origin
Intended Destination
Take-off Commenced
Yes
Flight Airborne
Yes
Flight Completed
No
Phase of Flight
Manoeuvring
Location
Location - Airport
Airport
HF
Tag(s)
Ineffective Monitoring, Manual Handling
LOC
Tag(s)
Flight Management Error, Extreme Pitch
Outcome
Damage or injury
Yes
Aircraft damage
Hull loss
Non-aircraft damage
Yes
Non-occupant Casualties
No
Occupant Injuries
Few occupants
Occupant Fatalities
Few occupants
Number of Occupant Fatalities
1
Off Airport Landing
Yes
Ditching
Yes
Causal Factor Group(s)
Group(s)
Aircraft Operation
Safety Recommendation(s)
Group(s)
Aircraft Operation
Aircraft Airworthiness
Investigation Type
Type
Independent

Description

On 25 March 2003, the crew of a Bell 412 lost control of the aircraft as a result of pilot mishandling associated with the development of a Vortex Ring State.

Summary

This is the Summary from the report published by the Swedish Accident Investigation Board:

"During the concluding Swedish Army exercise for 2003…a military ambulance helicopter based on the Karlsborg base took part. In connection with a rescue exercise, air-sea rescue open water (LÖV), the helicopter performed repeated sorties to assist simulated emergency cases in lakes in the vicinity of Karlsborg. In the final phase of the ninth sortie, the pilots lost control of the helicopter which, with a high rate of descent, struck the ice on Bottensjön lake. The ice broke on impact, the helicopter turned over onto its back and sank nose-first towards the bottom of the lake and with the rear of the fuselage against the edge of the ice at water level.

Three crew members were able to leave the helicopter and make their way up to the surface of the water and onto the ice. A fourth crew member drowned in the accident…

…Investigation revealed no technical faults or shortcomings that could have caused the accident.

…The accident was caused by the helicopter being manoeuvred into an aerodynamic situation in which, as its speed was being reduced to IAS=0, sank into its own downwash located diagonally in front of and below the helicopter. This aerodynamic situation developed into a vortex ring state (VRS) which became noticeable in the measurement data approximately 8 s before impact on the ice, whereafter the helicopter’s rate of descent could not be prevented despite increasing input of collective pitch. A contributory cause of the accident was the two pilots’ simultaneous manoeuvring of the helicopter. This allowed small or no chance of discovering in time that they were approaching the helicopter’s limit for safe flight."

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LOC

Further Reading

For further information see the full Report published by the Swedish Accident Investigation Board (SHK).

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