Accident to the Airbus AS350 registered F-OMAB on 14/12/2022 at Ilet à Malheur

This is a courtesy translation by the BEA of the Final Report on the Safety Investigation. As accurate as the translation may be, the original text in French is the work of reference.

Note: The following information is principally based on the pilot’s statement. This information has not been independently validated by the BEA.

1. History of the flight

The pilot, accompanied by a flight assistant, took off from Mafate helipad bound for the “Bord à Martin" pass.

On site, the flight assistant prepared the helicopter for a mission to transport two tanks weighing 265 kg each using a 15 m long sling. The load was to be set down in a rectangular walled pit facing roughly north-south, located at Ilet à Malheur in the Mafate cirque. Shortly before take-off, the flight assistant informed the customer by telephone of the time of arrival on site to set down the load. He explained that there were two straps under the load that needed to be grabbed to limit its rotation.

The pilot, still accompanied by the flight assistant, took off and reached the set-down site two minutes later. The pilot made a quick reconnaissance of the site during the half downwind leg, then turned onto final facing north. The pilot and flight assistant saw the customer ahead of them on the north wall of the pit, as well as two other people on a path to the east who were observing the flight.

Once the helicopter was positioned overhead the pit, the load pivoted slightly. Despite the intervention of the customer, who grabbed the straps to slow down the rotation, the load continued to pivot towards a fourth person[1]  on the southern low wall of the pit, who had not been detected by the pilot because he was hidden by vegetation. This low wall was about two metres high with respect to the outside of the pit. The flight assistant saw the fourth person fall after losing his balance[2]. He informed the pilot, who continued to lower the load into the pit and then landed near the site.

2. Additional information

2.1 Pilot

The pilot held a CPL (H) licence and an AS350 TR valid until 31 May 2023 and a HESLO approval valid until 31 July 2023.

His flight experience on the day of the accident was as follows:

2.2 Load set-down practices in the Mafate cirque

The Mafate cirque is not accessible by road. Most heavy and bulky loads are dropped off at truck-accessible sites on the outskirts of the cirque and then transported by helicopter to their final destination.

The pilot stated that the limited access to the sites in the Mafate cirque compromises the operator's possibility of pre-positioning an assistant on the ground to help with the load set-down operation and, in so doing, ensure the safety of the set-down site.