Final report from ditched R44 in Stockholm
Sep 18, 2014
The Swedish Accident Investigation Board (Statens Haverikommission, SHK) has published its final report following an accident that occurred in Tyresö, south east of Stockholm, on 26 August 2013.
The aircraft, a Swedish Robinson R44 Clipper II with the registration SE-JOE, was engaged in a water-sampling assignment in the Stockholm area. The crew consisted of one pilot and one crew member, whose task was to lower water sampling equipment into the lake whilst hovering above the water. Upon approach to the first lake, Lake Tyresö-Flaten, the pilot noticed that the water was calm and that it was difficult to estimate the height above the surface, and he thereby reduced the rate of descent. The pilot estimated the height to be roughly 5-10 meters when had still not obtained clear references to the water surface, why he started to arrest the sink rate further. At that same moment, the helicopter hit the water in a nose-up, right-bank, altitude and the tail boom broke loose. The pilot deployed the emergency floatation gear at the same time as the helicopter rolled over to the right. The pilot and crew member egressed the aircraft through the rear left door frame – both of them unharmed.
In its report, the Swedish Accident Investigation Board (Statens Haverikommission, SHK) writes that the water sampling operation was not included in the helicopter company's s Air Operator Certificate (AOC). SHK states that the company's Operations Manual had no published method for approaching water surfaces in calm conditions without the support of other references or aids. It concludes that this aspect probably contributed to the fact that the closing speed and distance to the surface was misjudged, which resulted in a collision with the water. SHK leaves no recommendations in the report.