History of the Flight
On 23 July 2011, at 1457 Newfoundland and Labrador Daylight Time, Cougar Helicopters flight 851, a Sikorsky S-92A (registration C-GQCH, serial number 920074), departed the Sea Rose floating production, storage, and offloading vessel with 5 passengers and 2 flight crew on board, destined for St. John’s International Airport, Newfoundland and Labrador. The flight had originated earlier from St. John’s, with stops at the Global Santa Fe oil rig and Sea Rose to transport offshore workers.
Departure and Unusual Attitude
After landing and hot refueling on the Sea Rose, the captain remained at the controls for the departure. Following a full departure brief, the captain brought the helicopter into a 10-foot hover, turned left for an into-wind departure, and initiated a vertical climb. As the helicopter accelerated through take-off safety speed, the captain made a large aft cyclic input at an average rate of 5.6° per second, causing a nose-high decelerating pitch attitude. The captain then released the cyclic force trim release button and engaged the go-around mode. The helicopter’s pitch attitude increased to approximately 23° nose-up while in instrument meteorological conditions, leading to a rapid loss of airspeed.
Descent and Recovery
After reaching a maximum altitude of 541 feet above sea level (534 feet radar altitude), the helicopter began descending towards the water in a nose-high attitude at low indicated airspeed. The descent was arrested 38 feet above the surface of the water. After approximately 5 seconds in the hover, the helicopter departed and flew to St. John’s. During the recovery, the helicopter’s transmission torque limits were exceeded. The helicopter sustained no damage and there were no injuries.
Flight Crew Actions
The captain, who was the pilot flying, initially made a rapid forward cyclic input to adopt an accelerating attitude. Upon engaging go-around mode, the captain released hand pressure on the cyclic, expecting a standard climb profile. However, due to the preceding large aft cyclic input, a nose-high unusual attitude developed. The captain attempted to correct by depressing the cyclic force trim release button but did not set an appropriate attitude. As airspeed decreased, the captain made another aft cyclic input, causing airspeed to drop below the minimum control speed in instrument meteorological conditions, and the helicopter entered a 23° nose-high attitude. Despite aural alerts including “Don’t sink” and “Too low gear,” recovery actions were delayed until the helicopter descended below the cloud base; at 156 feet above water, the rate of descent peaked at 1880 feet per minute. The captain then aggressively pulled collective to arrest the descent, resulting in the transmission limit exceedance.
Post-Flight
The multi-purpose flight recorder was not secured immediately after the occurrence, resulting in the loss of cockpit voice recorder data and making analysis of flight crew actions difficult. The flight continued back to St. John’s without further incident.