Serious incident AgustaWestland AW139 G-CIMU, Monday 13 June 2022
ASN logo
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Monday 13 June 2022
Time:day
Type:Silhouette image of generic A139 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
AgustaWestland AW139
Owner/operator:Bristow Helicopters Ltd
Registration: G-CIMU
MSN: 31583
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: Unknown
Category:Serious incident
Location:Norwich Airport, Horsham St. Faith, Norwich, Norfolk -   United Kingdom
Phase: Standing
Nature:Offshore
Departure airport:Norwich Airport (NWI/EGSH)
Destination airport:Norwich Airport (NWI/EGSH)
Investigating agency: AAIB
Confidence Rating: Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities
Narrative:
An Agusta Westland (Leonardo) AW139, G-CIMU, was undergoing post-flight maintenance at Norwich Airport when a tail rotor duplex bearing failure was found.

The AAIB reported that tests have been carried out on tail rotor duplex bearings to determine the forces applied to the bearing during removal and re-installation. Additionally, a number of tail rotor duplex bearings, which have been removed from service, are undergoing laboratory analysis, the results of this analysis will be used to inform the investigation."

=Damage to airframe=
Per the above AAIB Report "damaged to tail rotor bearing". The helicopter was repaired and returned to service, having been grounded at Norwich between 22 June 2022 and 5 July 2022. The last known flight as G-CIMU was 14 November 2022. The next move for this helicopter was a transfer to Bristow Taxi Aereo in Brazil as PS-BTE from 7 July 2023.

Sources:

1. AAIB 2nd Anniversary Statement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/anniversary-statement-leonardo-aw139-g-cimu-13-june-2022
2. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/PS-BTE.html
3. https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/VH-ZHH.html
4, https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/G-CIMU.html
5. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/41176/
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich_Airport

History of this aircraft

This Augusta Westland (Leonardo) AW139 was built in 2015, and first registered in the UK as G-CIMU on 27 February 2015 to Bristow Helicopters Ltd. It then moved around the world from 2015-2018 (still operated by various subsidiaries of Bristow Helicopters) before returning to the UK. First to Bristow Helicopters in South Korea as HL-9614 from 24 June 2015, then to Bristow Helicopters in Australia as VH-ZHH from 17 December 2015, returning to the UK with Bristow Helicopters Ltd from 15 October 2018, and resuming its original registration as G-CIMU

After the incident at Norwich Airport on 13 June 2022, G-CIMU was repaired and returned to service, having accumulated a total of 4,585 flying hours as at 2 December 2022. (Last known flight as G-CIMU was 14 November 2022). The next move for this helicopter was a transfer to Bristow Taxi Aereo in Brazil as PS-BTE from 7 July 2023.

Location

Media:

G-CIMU AgustaWestland AW.139 at Norwich Airport (MWI/EGSH) Norwich, Norfolk 24 June 2020 G-CIMU

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
15-Jun-2024 05:28 Dr. John Smith Added
15-Jun-2024 05:55 ASN Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org