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| Date: | Tuesday 27 December 2022 |
| Time: | 12:27 |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350B2 |
| Owner/operator: | The Helicopter Line |
| Registration: | ZK-IDB |
| MSN: | 7208 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2011 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Queenstown (NZQN) -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Queenstown-Frankton Airport (ZQN/NZQN) |
| Investigating agency: | TAIC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A Eurocopter EC-130B4, ZK-IUP, was cleared to depart from the southern apron at Queenstown (NZQN). A second helicopter, a Eurocopter AS 350B2, ZK-IDB, was cleared to depart number two after ZK-IUP. It was a fine and calm day.
While ZK-IDB was departing it passed above and to the left of ZK-IUP and took the lead out of the southern apron. Both flights continued uneventfully.
Findings:
The pilot of IDB did not positively identify the location of IUP before they commenced their departure and assumed that IUP had already departed.
When the pilot of IDB sighted IUP near IUP’s helipad, IDB was overtaking IUP’s position. The pilot of IDB made a radio call to IUP as they took the lead out of the southern apron area.
Neither pilot took evasive action, nor was it required. At their closest point, the helicopters were about 44 m apart laterally.
Hangars in the southern apron area can obstruct visibility between helipads. Queenstown Aerodrome’s southern apron layout, requiring all movements to arrive and depart via the intersection of taxiways Bravo and Yankee, creates a bottleneck for helicopter movements.
While not contributory to this occurrence, there was potential for differences in how helicopters were managed and flown over the southern apron, and this raised questions as to whether some aircraft were under ATC control or not within the southern apron area.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
TAIC
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Jun-2024 12:01 | ASN | Added |
| 28-Jun-2024 12:40 | ASN | Updated [Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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