Description

On 4 July 2011, a Eurocopter AS 350B3 Ecureuil being operated by Airlift on a passenger charter flight to transfer four people to a cabin site in the mountains in day Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) appeared to suddenly depart controlled flight whilst positioning at a low height above terrain when preparing to land at the destination landing site and impacted terrain soon afterwards. The helicopter was destroyed by this impact and ensuing fire and all five occupants were fatally injured.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the AIBN. No recorded flight data was available to assist the Investigation because the aircraft involved had not carried, nor been required to carry, an Flight Data Recorder (FDR). The Non Volatile Memory (NVM) of the Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver on board the helicopter was recovered and successfully accessed and was of some value in confirming the operation of the helicopter and corroborating eyewitness accounts of the final minutes of the flight. The NVM from the Digital Engine Control Unit (DECU) and the Vehicle and Engine Multifunction Display (VEMD) was also recovered but both had been rendered unreadable by fire damage.

The weather conditions at the accident site at the time of the crash had been good with light winds and a surface temperature in the vicinity recorded as 23º C. The altitude of the site was in excess of 3500 feet amsl.