What happened
On May 21, 2001, at approximately 18:17 local time, a Eurocopter AS-355N (registration EC-HAJ) crashed in a marble quarry near Marquina, Vizcaya. The aircraft was performing aerial filming operations for the Basque television station ETB, capturing landscapes of the region.
The flight was operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) in good meteorological conditions. During the fifth pass over the quarry, the pilot attempted a vertical ascent near a 30-meter-high marble wall. During this maneuver, the helicopter's rotor blades struck a high-strength, sharp-edged steel cable used for cutting marble, which was stretched diagonally across the quarry.
The impact with the cable caused the rotor to lose RPM and enter a stall. The cable also severed the tail boom and damaged the airframe. The aircraft lost control and fell from an altitude of over 25 meters, resulting in the total destruction of the helicopter. The accident resulted in three fatalities (the pilot, the camera operator, and a production director) and one serious injury (a screenwriter).
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage, analyzed onboard filming footage, and reviewed witness statements. The investigation focused on the flight path, the dynamics of the impact, and the visibility of the obstacle.
Analysis of the video footage showed that the cable was only clearly visible on camera when the lens was zoomed in on the quarry, making it difficult to spot during wider landscape shots. The investigation also looked into the crew's roles, noting that while the pilot was responsible for flight safety, the filming crew members (camera operator and director) were actively involved in selecting flight trajectories for specific shots.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the collision with the marble-cutting cable.
- The pilot likely failed to detect the cable during the approach, possibly due to the lack of visible support posts at the quarry perimeter and the dust kicked up by the helicopter's own downwash during the low-altitude ascent.
- The crew members involved in the filming process did not identify the cable as a flight hazard, despite it being visible on their monitoring screens.
- At the time of the accident, there were no specific training requirements for non-flight crew members involved in aerial work operations regarding hazard identification.