Eurocopter AS 350 B2 accident on Mont de Cordon, 20 June 2009 (F-GTRF)

Overview and flight details On 20 June 2009, a Eurocopter AS 350 B2 helicopter, registration F-GTRF, was destroyed in a collision with the ground on Mont de Cordon, in the commune of Brégnier sur Cordon (01), France. The accident occurred at 16:48 UTC. The aircraft was operated by Société Azur Hélicoptère and owned by Banque Populaire Côte d’Azur. It was carrying one pilot and six passengers, all of whom were killed. The flight was a sightseeing circuit conducted as part of an air show near the Walibi amusement park. ## Circumstances The helicopter had been conducting short sightseeing flights of about six minutes for spectators and some park employees. At approximately 16:45 UTC, the pilot took off for a ninth circuit toward Mont de Cordon with six passengers aboard. Witnesses in the hamlet of La Bruyère, about 600 m north of the mountain, reported seeing the helicopter fly in a straight line and then make a half-turn with a steep nose-down attitude before it disappeared into the trees. The helicopter’s emergency locator transmitter activated at 16:48 UTC, and the wreckage was found shortly afterward below the mountain, at the edge of a clearing. ## Aircraft and personnel The aircraft was a Eurocopter AS 350 B2, serial number 9034, first placed into service in 2001. At the time of the accident, it had 2,884.5 flight hours and 10,151 cycles. The pilot was a 23-year-old man holding a helicopter commercial pilot licence, a type rating for the AS 350, and a helicopter flight instructor qualification. He had 424 total flight hours, including 35 hours on type. ## Investigation findings The BEA report states that the helicopter was destroyed and that there were no other damages. The estimated take-off mass before the ninth circuit was 2,193 kg, below the maximum authorised take-off mass of 2,250 kg. However, the centre of gravity was outside the certified mass-and-centre-of-gravity envelope. No mass-and-centre-of-gravity calculation documents for the event flights were found. The report notes that the investigation was conducted to draw safety lessons rather than to assign fault or responsibility.