The pilot of a Eurocopter AS350 BA was en route to a New Zealand pond to refill an underslung firefighting bucket when the bucket’s suspension line struck the tail rotor, tearing off the tail boom and causing a loss of control that sent the helicopter plunging to the ground, the Transportation Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) of New Zealand says.
The pilot — the only person in the helicopter — was killed in the Feb. 14, 2017, crash in the southeastern suburbs of Christchurch, and the helicopter was destroyed, the TAIC said in its report, released in late June.
“There may not be a good awareness within the helicopter industry of the additional risks involved with underslung load operations, particularly with the use of monsoon buckets [underslung buckets used in fighting wildfires] during firefighting operations,” the report said.
The report said that video from a recorder mounted beneath the helicopter showed that an object — presumably a window, which had …
