AS50, manoeuvring, southwest of Alta Norway, 2019

AS50, manoeuvring, southwest of Alta Norway, 2019

Summary

On 31 August 2019, all six occupants of an Airbus AS350 B3 being used for a sightseeing flight in northern Norway were killed after control was suddenly lost and the helicopter impacted the terrain below where the wreckage was immediately consumed by an intense fire. The Investigation found no airworthiness issues which could have led to the accident and concluded that the loss of control had probably been due to servo transparency, a known limitation of the helicopter type. However, it was concluded that it was the absence of a crash-resistant fuel system which had led to the fatalities.

Description

On 31 August 2019, an Airbus AS350 B3 (LN-OFU) being operated by Helitrans on a local sightseeing flight which had departed a festival site at Kvenvikmoen in north Norway was manoeuvring in day VMC at low level five minutes into the flight when control was lost. Terrain impact followed soon afterwards and an intense fire destroyed the wreckage and neither the pilot nor any of the five passengers survived.    

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