The pilot of a Eurocopter AS350 B3 had never operated from a helideck at sea when he took off from an Antarctic supply ship and descended below a low cloud layer to fly as low as 30 ft above the Antarctic. The helicopter crashed into pack ice, killing all four people aboard, the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) says.
In its final report on the Oct. 28, 2010, accident, the BEA said that the probable cause was “the decision to undertake the flight and to continue it in unfavourable meteorological conditions in a hostile environment that offered few alternatives to the plan of action.”
The decision “probably resulted in the loss of visual references in whiteout conditions,” the report added.
Three contributing factors were cited:
- The “context of the campaign” — the pilot’s awareness of the urgency of the delivery of personnel and equipment to an Antarctic research base — which “gave particular importance to achieving the mission…
