Maintenance cloth caused R44 accident in Sweden

Maintenance cloth caused R44 accident in Sweden

18-Mar-2013 Source: Nordic Rotors

The Swedish Accident Investigation Board (Statens Haverikommission, SHK) has published its final report after an accident that occurred on 6 September 2011 in Ånn, close to Åre, involving a Norwegian helicopter with the registration LN-OAB.

The aircraft, a Robinson R44 Astro, was taking off for a private flight with three people onboard when the engine partially lost power. The helicopter had been climbing vertically to a height of 8-10 meters when the rotor RPM started to deteriorate and the aircraft began to settle. The sink rate could not be constrained with the decreasing RPM, why the helicopter hit the ground hard. None of the occupants were injured in the accident.

The Investigation Board has found that the probable cause of the accident was an absorption cloth that had been handled improperly at the maintenance shop during the last 100-hour inspection, and that earlier engine disturbances that preceded the accident had not been investigated in an appropriate manner. SHK found fibers identical to the fibers in the maintenance shop’s absorption cloths in the whole fuel system. The amount of polypropylene fibers, in combination with other contaminations in the carburetor, was believed to be sufficient to cause engine disturbances.

Reproduced from Nordic Rotors with permission. Copyright and full responsibility for the content of this article remains with Nordic Rotors

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