PHOTOS: Helicopter in Palm Jumeirah crash was airworthy, suffered ‘loss of control’ says report

A report into a helicopter accident at The Atlantis hotel on the Palm Jumeirah earlier this year believes the chopper lost control.

The helicopter pilot and a helicopter landing official were airlifted to hospital after the Dubai crash on January 22. No official reason was given for the incident in a report just released by the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

However, the findings suggest the cause was a “loss of control in flight”.

The report goes on to state that after examination the aircraft was found to be airworthy and that the engine, airframe and electronic systems had no pre-existing faults.

The report gives a detailed description of the events of the collision and the findings show that the helicopter hit the helipad vertically on collision “with minimal forward speed, nose down and with a rapid rate of descent, resulting in a hard landing.”

“The loss of the tail rotor control occurred as the helicopter was engaged in a counter-clockwise rotation following the heavy landing; subsequently as the helicopter was under-power, it then began uncontrolled rapid counter-clockwise rotation,” the report adds.

After hitting the ground, it spun around almost 50 times. The aircraft came to a complete stop after hitting a curb at the edge of the heliport, which destroyed the rear rotator blades.

The GCAA findings confirm that the pilot and a helicopter landing official were “seriously” injured in the incident. They were both treated at Rashid Hospital following the crash.

Alcohol tests were given to both the pilot and the official, but the results were not included. Details of the pilot and official’s current medical condition were not included in the report either.

The GCAA will publish a full report ‘within 12 months’ of the crash.

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