Staff Reporter
THE helicopter involved in a fatal accident that occurred in July, resulting in two fatalities, was not officially registered in Namibia.
A preliminary report from the Ministry of Works and Transport established that the helicopter was purchased from South Africa and later brought into the country using a trailer in February 2022.
The helicopter had entered the country using the registration code ZS-HLG. However, the appropriate registration for the Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter in Namibia is V5-HGG. An application for this registration was, according to the ministry, submitted on June 23 but was not followed up by the owner. Furthermore, both South Africa and Namibia do not consider this helicopter fit for flying, as it lacks a valid Certificate of Airworthiness (CoA) for either of these countries, the report detailed.
Afterward, the owner of the helicopter engaged an Aircraft Maintenance Organization (AMO) to perform a thorough inspection and acquire the necessary certification. However, the Aircraft Maintenance Organization (AMO) did not apply for registration number V5-HGG until June 2023. The registration mark V5-HGG had been reserved by the NCAA, but the owner chose not to proceed with the registration process. Surprisingly, at the time of the accident, the helicopter was still registered as VS-HLG in South Africa.
Additionally, the helicopter lacked a permit for test flights. Strikingly, instead of its original engine, the helicopter was fitted with an engine that had previously been registered in a helicopter bearing the registration mark VS-HJL.
According to the Ministry’s record, the party identified as Golden Game cc is the registered owner of the Robinson helicopter involved in the incident. The factual details outlined in the report pertain to the accident in question, indicated that on Monday, 17 July, the Robinson helicopter located in Swakopmund embarked on a test flight designated for maintenance purposes. The primary objectives of this flight encompassed finalizing the adjustment of the wings’ balance (rotors) and executing auto-rotation procedures.
Following the completion of maintenance, the Aircraft Maintenance Organization (AMO) notified the owner that the work had been finished and they were prepared for test flights. The initial test flight took place on Friday, July 14th, and was followed by another on Saturday, July 15th. The ill-fated flight occurred on Monday, July 17th, during which rotor-balancing and auto-rotations were executed, claiming two lives.
During the auto-rotation, one of the main rotor blades struck the tail section, resulting in the breakage of the tail portion from the remaining fuselage, which led to the helicopter crashing violently onto the ground, impacting predominantly on its left side. The separated tail section was found approximately 158 meters away from the main fuselage, while the detached rotor piece came to rest 55 meters from the tail section.
Shortly after the incident, a woman who works for the company that owned the helicopter was arrested in relation to falsification of the flight test permit, certificate of registration of the said helicopter, as well as violation of other civil aviation regulations.
She appeared in court on eight charges, including fraud, forgery, and uttering and was remanded in custody. She also faced six violations of the Namibian Civil Aviation Regulations, which encompass falsification, reproduction, or alteration of maintenance documents; requirement of approval; manual of procedure; quality assurance system; and reporting of defects or non-airworthy conditions.
Leave a Reply