Accident Overview
On December 15, 2018, at 18:40 UTC, an Agusta A109S helicopter, registration I-EITC, operated by Babcock MCS Portugal, collided with a radio broadcasting tower at Serra de Santa Justa, Valongo, Portugal. The accident was classified as a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) involving an inflight collision with an obstacle.
Aircraft and Operator
The helicopter was an Agusta A109S, registered as I-EITC. The operator was Babcock MCS Portugal, a civil aviation company.
Investigation
The investigation was conducted by the Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves e de Acidentes Ferroviários (GPIAAF), the Portuguese safety investigation authority. The final report was published on March 6, 2020, under document number AC_09/ACCID/2018_RF.
The investigation examined various aspects including the flight history, aircraft certification and maintenance, navigation systems, weather conditions, communications, flight recorders, wreckage and impact information, medical and pathological information, and fire. The flight crew qualifications and experience were reviewed, as were the mission technical crew.
The aircraft's navigation systems included a dependent position determining system and weather radar. The fuel quantity and mass and balance were also evaluated.
Result
The accident resulted in damage to the aircraft and other damage to the tower. The investigation did not determine a probable cause in the published report summary.