The pilot of a Robinson Helicopter R44 Raven had deviated from the regular scenic tour route in a mountainous area of Western Australia and was flying slow and close to the ground when the helicopter crashed, killing the pilot and all three passengers, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) says.
The ATSB, in its final report on the accident, identified the departure from the “regular scenic flight track, speed and profile” as a contributing safety factor in the Sept. 14, 2008, crash.
Other factors were that the “out-of-ground-effect1 hover performance of the helicopter was likely to have been marginal” and that the “high level of engine power required to sustain a hover in the local conditions either was not available or was not fully utilized by the pilot, resulting in the sequential development of an uncommanded descent, overpitching,2 significant main rotor RPM decay, …
