What happened
On October 19, 2010, an Eurocopter AS350, registration F-GMHR, was engaged in an instructional flight for the purpose of license extension. The pilot, who was the owner of the aircraft, was accompanied by an instructor. The flight began at the Archamps helisurface, with a stop at Val d’Isère before proceeding to the Albertville aerodrome to perform circuit patterns.
During the maneuvers at Albertville, one of the landings was harder than the others. However, the impact did not appear significant enough at the time to prompt an immediate inspection. Upon returning to Archamps, the crew discovered that the aircraft's tail boom had been crumpled.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the sequence of events leading to the structural damage and the crew's response to the landing. The instructor, an experienced pilot with 4,907 total flight hours, noted that while the landings at Albertville generally seemed correct, one had been somewhat abrupt. Because the perceived intensity of the shock was low, the instructor did not initiate a check for damage to the airframe or the tail rotor drive.
The pilot, a 65-year-old holder of a PPL(H) license, had 524 total flight hours, with 332 on this specific type. It was noted that the pilot had not flown since April 2010. Meteorological conditions at the time of the incident were CAVOK with light winds.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was a lack of technical proficiency by the pilot during the instructional landing.
- The instructor failed to recognize that the landing had caused structural damage, which should have resulted in the immediate termination of the flight.