AAIU Reports

SYNOPSIS

The accident happened during the Celtic Cup Hang Gliding Competition which was held over 24 and 25 May 2003 at Mount Leinster on the Carlow / Wexford border.  A task was set to fly from the summit of Mount Leinster to a field on the east coast just south of Courtown Harbour – a distance of 37.2km.  The pilot arrived over the field and after descending towards the goal area, attempted to perform a loop in his hang glider. The glider failed to complete the loop and slid backwards into a series of reverse loops during which the pilot became detached from the control bar and lost control.  He made several attempts to deploy his reserve parachute.  When it did deploy, insufficient height remained to recover the situation and the pilot and his hang glider hit the ground simultaneously.  The pilot was injured and taken to hospital.   He died from his injuries 9 days later.

SYNOPSIS

While carrying out a pilot Operator Proficiency Check (OPC), the helicopter touched-on with the main Landing Gear retracted.  Damage was caused to the underbelly anti-collision light and a section of the keel area.  There were no reported injuries or fire.

SYNOPSIS

The scheduled passenger flight from Dublin (EIDW) with 128 passengers, 5 crew and 4 supernumerary crew members landed normally on runway (RWY) 25 at Charleroi Airport/Brussels South (CRL) at 11.40 hrs. After landing, the First Officer, who was the pilot-flying the aircraft (PF), handed over control to the Captain somewhere prior to runway exit S2 and she elected to vacate the runway at exit S1, which is at the end of the runway. During this left turning off manoeuvre the nose wheel and right main landing gear departed the paved taxiway surface onto the soft grassy area. ATC was advised and the aircraft engines were shut down. The passengers disembarked the aircraft normally and were bussed to the terminal. The airport was then closed to traffic until 13.48 hrs when RWY 25 was declared fully operational again.

SYNOPSIS

The aircraft took off from Dublin Airport for a check flight following the completion of “C” check maintenance at Team FLS. After take-off, significant airframe vibration was encountered. The crew then deduced that both airspeed indicators were under-reading significantly. Following declaration of an emergency, and trouble-shooting by the crew off the east coast of Ireland, the aircraft returned safely to Dublin. After landing it was discovered that the flap system had suffered damage. It was found that the static drain ports in the Avionics and Electrical (A&E) bay, connected to both the Captain’s and the First Officer’s instruments, were left open after maintenance. This resulted in both airspeed indicators under-reading by a significant amount.

SYNOPSIS

The Air Traffic Controller on duty saw smoke coming from the front of the aircraft on Stand 34 and alerted the Fire Services who responded.  Flight 602 for Amsterdam was being boarded and most of the passengers had already taken their seats.  The Captain ordered an immediate evacuation of the aircraft and this took place through the forward door, in an orderly way, under the guidance of the cabin staff.  In the follow-up technical examination, it was found that metal braid on a hydraulic flexible pipe had caused a shorting of the electrical supply to the hydraulic pump.  This shorting had also punctured the pipe causing the hydraulic fluid to escape.

The Investigation made one Safety Recommendation to the maintenance organisation with which that organisation concurred".

SYNOPSIS

The helicopter was hovering after take-off when it swung uncontrollably to the left. The skids made ground contact and the helicopter toppled. The Investigation concluded that the clutch cable had separated, resulting in a loss of transmitted engine power. 

Synopsis

EI-BKT, a Bell B206 Jetranger, was engaged in aerial photographic work for a TV documentary. In the course of this work, it flew over the chimneys of a large power station. One of these chimneys was inactive at the time but the other was under power and was emitting a near-invisible plume of exhaust gas and water vapour. When the helicopter entered this plume the engine shut down. Following an autorotation, the helicopter landed nearby. The helicopter suffered significant damage in this landing. The report contains one Safety Recommendation

SYNOPSIS

During its landing rollout on Runway (RWY) 27 at EIKN, the aircraft veered to the right, the left retracted wingtip float made contact with the runway surface, the left main undercarriage collapsed and the left main wheel separated from the aircraft.  The aircraft departed the right hand side of the paved surface and came to rest with its nose at near right angles to the edge of the runway. The flightcrew and the passengers exited the aircraft unaided.  There were no reported injuries or fire.