Helicopter Landing Dance Interrupted by Fenestron Destruction

Описание: On July 19, 2022, a Eurocopter EC-135 P2+, registration N228MT, owned and operated by by Air Evac Lifeteam, was substantially damaged when rotor wash blew a cloth fire extinguisher cover into the helicopter's Fenestron tail rotor. The incident occurred during landing at Mount Vernon Outland Airport (KMVN), Mount Vernon, Illinois.

As described by Tony Bonham, Vice President for Aviation at Air Evac Lifeteam:

"Upon return-to-base after a transport flight, after hover taxi[i]ng the helicopter to the normal parking position, the aircrew experienced a large jolt to the tail of the aircraft just as it was being lowered to the ground. The pilot continued the landing from the hover position (with no perceived loss of tail rotor control authority).

Upon shut-down and post-flight, it was found that the tail fenestron (enclosed tail-rotor) had ingested a red, cloth fire-extinguisher cover bag from the adjacent fuel farm (portable fuel bowser). The metal fenestron hub cover was detached and torn into multiple metal shards; some impacting the fenestron frame and others being scattered as debris. There were no injuries to flight crew or around personnel."

00:00 Landing Dance (Version 1.0)
01:53 Damage photos
02:27 Communications
03:59 NTSB Safety Alert
06:00 NTSB Report Form
07:46 Landing Dance (Version 2.0)