What happened
On October 7, 2016, at 18:27 LMT, an EC 130 T2 helicopter completed a commercial flight and landed at Warsaw Babice airport. During the engine cooling phase following the landing, two amber warning lights appeared on the cockpit warning panel: HYD2 and SERVO.
The HYD2 warning indicated a malfunction in the backup hydraulic system, while the SERVO warning indicated an air conditioning system failure. Following these indications, the pilot shut down the engine and recorded the event in the aircraft technical log. The maintenance organization, Heli Invest Services (PART 145 HIS), was subsequently notified of the malfunction.
The investigation
The investigation, conducted by the operator's internal team, examined the mechanical components of the aircraft's drive systems. The investigation established that the hydraulic system failure was caused by the failure of the hydraulic pump drive belt. Additionally, the air conditioning malfunction was traced to a broken drive belt for the air conditioning compressor.
Findings
- The hydraulic system malfunction resulted from the failure of the HYD2 hydraulic pump drive belt.
- The air conditioning system failure was caused by the breakage of the compressor drive belt.
- The primary cause of the incident was the operational wear of the air conditioning drive belt, which subsequently led to the failure of the hydraulic pump drive belt.