History of the Flight
On 26 June 2001, at approximately 07:00 local time, a Eurocopter AS-350-B3 helicopter, registered F-OHCU, departed from the Ripollés Base near Queralbs (Girona). The flight was tasked with transporting personnel and equipment to construction and maintenance works on protection barriers along the rack railway line between Queralbs and Santuario de Nuria. The helicopter was operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) with four occupants on board.
The landing zone was a small, nearly horizontal ledge with a width of less than two meters, located at an altitude of approximately 1,600–1,700 m, about 200 m from the end of the first tunnel on the railway line. The helicopter touched down lightly with a skid, and the first occupant disembarked with equipment. Shortly thereafter, the tips of the main rotor blades struck the adjacent rocks, causing the rotor to impact the slope. The helicopter caught fire and was completely destroyed.
Injuries and Damage
The three occupants who remained on board sustained fatal injuries. The fourth occupant, who had already disembarked, was rescued without physical injuries but was in a state of severe emotional shock. The helicopter wreckage was scattered over a radius of approximately 200 m downhill, with some parts coming to rest on the railway tracks. The undergrowth and scrubland caught fire and were extinguished by fire brigade helicopters.
Aircraft Information
The aircraft was a Eurocopter AS-350-B3 (manufacturer's serial number 3288, built in 2000) with a maximum take-off weight of 2,250 kg. It was owned by HELITRANS (Andorra) for HELISWISS IBÉRICA, S.A., and operated by HELIUNION FRANCE – COMMERC'AIR. The helicopter had logged 456 hours and 10 minutes of flight time as of 25 June 2001. Its airframe and engine (Turbomeca Arriel 2B) were maintained in accordance with applicable inspections.
Personnel Information
The pilot-in-command was a 35-year-old French national holding a Commercial Pilot Licence (Helicopter) issued in 1995, valid until 30 April 2004. He had accumulated 2,266 hours and 38 minutes of total flying experience, of which 35 hours and 10 minutes were on the AS-350-B3 model. He had been contracted by the operator approximately two months before the accident and was reportedly qualified for mountain aerial work. According to the surviving occupant, the pilot was not one of the regular pilots on that route and had not previously flown in that area. The occupant seated beside the pilot was fluent in French and Spanish, while the other two occupants did not speak French.
Probable Cause
The investigation concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the loss of control of the aircraft due to the impact of the main rotor with the rocks of the mountain while an occupant was disembarking. Contributing factors included the physical characteristics of the landing zone, which did not provide sufficient obstacle clearance, and the lack of coordination between the pilot and occupants, resulting from poor flight planning, the pilot's lack of prior knowledge of the area, and language difficulties.