History of the Flight
On 4 August 2009, a private flight of a Westland Bell 47G-3B-1 helicopter (registration G-BFYI) from Windemere to Bagby Airfield, North Yorkshire, concluded with an accident during ground handling. The pilot and a passenger were on board; neither was injured. The helicopter sustained damage to the tips of both tail rotor blades.
After landing, the pilot hover-taxied downwind to the refuelling point, shut down, refuelled, and visited the clubhouse. Before re-boarding, he considered the effects of the tailwind on departure from the pump area. Based on an uneventful downwind hover-taxi, he believed conditions were within his personal limits and those of the helicopter.
The Accident
The pilot started the helicopter and completed normal checks. He lifted into a hover and, when stable, initiated a sideways hover-taxi to the right. At that point, the wind appeared to catch the vertical tail surface, causing the nose to yaw rapidly to the right. The pilot applied full left pedal and increased collective pitch to gain height while maintaining a level pitch attitude. Despite these inputs, the tips of the tail rotor blades contacted the concrete parking area. As the helicopter's nose pointed into wind, the yaw stopped. The pilot felt severe vibration through the tail rotor control pedals and carried out a running landing onto the grass area ahead, then shut down.
Wind Conditions
The surface wind at Bagby was from 100° at 20 kt, gusting 30 kt. The Pilot's Notes for the helicopter type state: "Helicopter flight and landing operations can be safely accomplished with wind conditions up to 20 mph (32 kph); however, this is not to be considered a limiting value as maximum operating wind velocities have not been established."
Damage
Both tail rotor blade tips were damaged. No other damage was reported.
Pilot Experience
The commander held a Private Pilot's Licence, was 45 years old, and had 179 total flying hours, with 44 hours on type. In the preceding 90 days he had flown 13 hours, and 3 hours in the last 28 days.