Accidents Database

Back to Search

Aerospatiale AS350B Squirrel, G-PLMB, 29 August 2003

Air Accidents (AAIB)

Published on 10 December 2014, 20:56

Summary
aircraft category
general-aviation-rotorcraft
aircraft type
Aerospatiale AS350B
bulk published
1
date of occurrence
2003-08-29
location
1.5 nm south-west of Fort, Augustus, Scotland
registration
G-PLMB
report type
correspondence-investigation

Report Overview

Aerospatiale AS350B Squirrel, G-PLMB

Download report:

dft-avsafety-pdf-027263.pdfDownload (72.59 kb)

This overview has been truncated. Please refer to the official documents below for the complete canonical report.

Official Documents

Document Content Preview

Extracted text from the first few pages of the official documents.

dft-avsafety-pdf-027263.pdf

1 Aerospatiale AS350B Squirrel, G-PLMB AAIB Bulletin No: 2/2004 Ref: EW/G2003/08/48 Category: 2.3 Aircraft Type and Registration: Aerospatiale AS350B Squirrel, G-PLMB No & Type of Engines: 1 Turbomeca Arriel 1B turboshaft engine Year of Manufacture: 1980 Date & Time (UTC): 29 August 2003 at 1230 hrs Location: 1.5 nm south-west of Fort Augustus, Scotland Type of Flight: Aerial work (filming) Persons on Board: Crew - 1 Passengers - 2 Injuries: Crew - None Passengers - None Nature of Damage: Damage to tail rotor blades and lower fin assembly Commander's Licence: Commercial Pilot's Licence Commander's Age: 53 years Commander's Flying Experience: 2,348 hours (of which 556 were on type) Last 90 days - 131 hours Last 28 days - 66 hours Information Source: Aircraft Accident Report Form submitted by the pilot The aircraft was being used to film marine traffic on Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal. After completing the filming along Loch Ness the aircraft descended to 200 feet agl, in accordance with its clearance, to film a cabin cruiser travelling south-west along the Caledonian Canal just to the west of Fort Augustus. While doing so the aircraft carried out one and a quarter orbits to the right. Having finished that filming, the pilot turned the aircraft left from a north-westerly heading onto a southerly heading and then saw a set of power cables about 65 metres ahead, across his track. He took avoiding action by applying aft cyclic to climb over the cables but was informed by the cameraman, sitting in the rear of the cabin, that the aircraft may have contacted them. The pilot landed the aircraft in a nearby field and shut it down. Subsequent examination revealed that both tail rotor blades and the lower vertical fin had sustained wire strike damage but had remained intact. One of the power cables, which was carrying 132,000 volts, was severed. This cable had been strung 314 feet above ground level because of the local topography and the clearance required for vessels on the Caledonian Canal. The company which maintains the power cables has since placed orange reflective 'bird flight diverters' on the repaired cable to increase its visibility. The pilot concluded that the accident was a result of allowing himself to be distracted from his primary role as the commander and pilot of the aircraft by the secondary task of filming.

Change History

  • First published.

Related Entities

Search the database for other reports involving these entities.

G-PLMB Aerospatiale AS350B 1.5 nm south-west of Fort, Augustus, Scotland