Airbus Helicopters EC 130 N894GT

Summary

On 28 January 2018 at about 20:00 local time, a Airbus Helicopters EC 130 registered N894GT, operated by Air Evac EMS Inc, was involved in an incident near Memphis, Tennessee, United States. 4 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 January 2018 at 20:00

Classification

Incident

Location

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Helipad (PVT)

Coordinates

35.1369, -90.0250

Aircraft

Airbus Helicopters EC 130

Registration

N894GT

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2015

Engines

1

Operator

Air Evac EMS Inc

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Humboldt → Memphis

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA18IA078

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to lock the collective pitch control after landing, and the mechanic’s failure to properly balance the collective pitch control after converting the helicopter to a single-pilot configuration, which resulted in an uncommanded collective movement and subsequent hard landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the helicopter air ambulance performed an approach and landing to a rooftop heliport in gusting wind conditions, during which he reduced collective pitch control friction to more readily apply collective control inputs. After landing, he started the after-landing portion of the checklist and turned the throttle twist grip on the collective from FLIGHT to IDLE, believing that he had engaged the collective lock. Shortly thereafter, the collective "popped up," and the helicopter became airborne. He immediately grabbed the cyclic with his right hand, the collective with his left hand, and twisted the twist grip to FLIGHT. The helicopter then landed hard, resulting in minor damage. Review of onboard video revealed a sequence of events consistent with the pilot’s statement, and recorded data indicated that the collective rose up consistent with it not locked in the down position and resulted in the engine transitioning from IDLE to FLIGHT. This confirmed the pilot’s observation that the collective rose uncommanded. The helicopter was designed to be convertible from a dual-pilot configuration (for activities such as training), to single-pilot configuration (for activities such as air ambulance). Two days before the incident, the helicopter had been converted to the single-pilot configuration by a mechanic. This conversion required that the collective be balanced to avoid uncommanded movement; however, post-incident examination of the helicopter revealed that the collective would rise unassisted, indicating that the collective was improperly balanced after the helicopter was converted to the single-pilot configuration.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.