Incident Overview
On 10 October 2001 at 1150Z, a Eurocopter EC 120B, registration ZS-RME, was involved in an incident at Hera Sub Station during a commercial flight operation. The helicopter was undertaking hot refuelling when its main rotor blades struck the top of the roll bar of a light delivery vehicle. The weather was reported as fine at the time. There were no persons on board the helicopter, and no injuries or fatalities occurred.
Sequence of Events
According to the pilot's statement, the incident occurred during hot refuelling. The helicopter was parked facing an easterly direction. A gust of wind from the six o’clock position caused the rotor disk to tilt out of the wind, leading to contact with the roll bar. The pilot noted that all control locks were engaged during the incident. The rotor blades made contact with the vehicle, likely due to a shift in wind strength, gust, or whirlwind.
Probable Cause
The probable cause of the incident was determined to be the positioning of the light delivery vehicle and its fuel trailer parallel to the helicopter within the main rotor turning circle radius during refuelling. A sudden gust of wind from the six o’clock position caused the rotor blades to droop, resulting in impact with the vehicle's roll bar.