S76, Peasmarsh East Sussex UK, 2012

S76, Peasmarsh East Sussex UK, 2012

Summary

On 3 May 2012, a Sikorsky S76C operating a passenger flight to a private landing site at night discontinued an initial approach because of lack of visual reference in an unlit environment and began to position for another. The commander became spatially disorientated and despite a number of EGPWS Warnings, continued manoeuvring until ground impact was only narrowly avoided - the minimum recorded height was 2 feet +/- 2 feet. An uneventful diversion followed. The Investigation recommended a review of the regulations that allowed descent below MSA for landing when flying in IMC but not on a published approach procedure.

Description

On 3 May 2012, a Sikorsky S76C (G-WIWI) being operated on a passenger charter flight from the London Heliport at Battersea to a private landing site at Peasmarsh discontinued an initial night approach at destination in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) but during the subsequent manoeuvring for a second attempt at a visual transition almost descended into terrain before climbing away and diverting without further event to a licensed aerodrome.

Investigation

A Field Investigation was carried out by the UK AAIB. The event was not appropriately reported to the Operator and notification of it as a Serious Incident was delayed accordingly. The Investigation was provided with Flight Data Recorder (FDR) data from the CVFDR fitted to the helicopter but the voice data from this recorder had been overwritten. The Non Volatile Memory of the Honeywell MKXXII EGPWS fitted was a useful source of data on the Alerts and Warnings generated during the event and the ground track at the time but data from the Digital Video Recording System (DVRS) which provides a recording of EFIS display screens, had been overwritten due to delay in the disclosure of the event.

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