Bucket cable caused fire heli crash

The likely cause of a helicopter crash that killed a firefighting pilot, Steve Askin, in February was the water bucket’s cable swinging into the tail rotor, according to an interim report issued on 11 May by New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC). The helicopter came down in the Port Hills, Christchurch area on 14 February.

Large ground parties, two planes and up to 12 helicopters were taking part in efforts to control wildfires that had broken out the previous day, said the TAIC. The Commission explained: “In the early afternoon, one of the helicopters, a Eurocopter AS350 ‘Squirrel’, registered ZK-HKW, crashed while the pilot was returning to the dipping pond to refill the firefighting ‘monsoon’ bucket. The helicopter was destroyed and the pilot was killed. Evidence shows that the likely cause of the crash was the empty monsoon bucket swung back into the tail rotor, damaging the tail rotor and causing the loss of the vertical stabiliser from the tail boom. After the loss of the vertical stabiliser, the helicopter gradually rolled to the right and descended until it struck the ground.”

Underslung loads flying back into the tail rotor is a known risk for helicopter sling operations, said the TAIC, which noted that their advice is available for pilots and operators to help prevent such accidents. The Commission has recommended that New Zealand’s Director of Civil Aviation disseminate the lessons learned from accidents involving sling loads to the industry, in particular the use of monsoon buckets, as a matter of urgency.

As well as working as a helicopter pilot, Askin was a member of the New Zealand Special Air Service who served in Afghanistan and was awarded the NZ Gallantry Star in 2014.

Read the full report.