Incident Overview
On May 3, 2012, at approximately 07:42 local time, a Mil MI-8MTV helicopter with registration HK-4160 was involved in a serious incident while taxiing on the apron of Villa Garzón Aerodrome (SKVG) in Putumayo, Colombia. The aircraft was operated by Helistar S.A.S. for a charter mission involving personnel transport for an oil and gas company. The flight crew consisted of three individuals: a pilot, a co-pilot, and a flight engineer, along with one passenger.
Sequence of Events
The helicopter had completed previous legs of its route from Orito to Puerto Asís and Masoya without issue. Upon landing at Villa Garzón, the crew was informed by airport personnel that an ATR 42 commercial aircraft was approaching for landing. To clear the apron for the fixed-wing aircraft, the helicopter crew initiated a taxi maneuver to reposition the aircraft to the western side of the platform.
During this left-turning taxi maneuver, the main rotor blades struck a concrete utility pole located on the right side of the aircraft's path. The impact caused the rotor blades to deflect downward, which subsequently fractured the tail boom at the level of the horizontal stabilizer. The resulting vibration and loss of dynamic components caused the helicopter to yaw to the left until it came to a stop.
Damage and Injuries
The investigation recorded major damage to all five main rotor blades, the tail boom, and the tail rotor assembly, which detached from the aircraft. Additionally, the concrete utility pole was fractured, and nearby wire fencing sustained damage. Despite the severity of the structural damage, there were no fatalities or injuries among the four occupants on board. Post-incident medical examinations confirmed that all crew members and the passenger were healthy with no contraindications for duty.
Operational Context
The aerodrome is uncontrolled, and no air traffic control communications were required or recorded. The cockpit voice recorder was removed for analysis but contained no recording from the day of the incident or the previous day. Weather conditions at the time were visual flight rules (VFR) suitable, with a ceiling of 5,000 feet, visibility exceeding ten kilometers, and calm winds.