The Aviation Safety Council (ASC) yesterday published both the preliminary and factual reports on the crash of an Emerald Pacific Airlines helicopter on June 10 that killed documentary film director Chi Po-lin (齊柏林), his assistant and the pilot, showing that the aircraft appeared to be experiencing abnormal shaking before it crashed on a slope.
ASC Executive Director Thomas Wang (王興中) said that the council needs further analysis of the factual information, as there are a few questionable points.
The final report of the investigation is scheduled to be released in May next year, the council said.
Photo: CNA
According to the report, the Bell 206B-3 helicopter was equipped with neither a flight data recorder nor a cockpit voice recorder. Meanwhile, no information was recorded on the radar because the accident happened at an altitude of below 3,000 feet, beyond the coverage of the multi-sensor tracking system.
Although both the helicopter and the HD camera system on board were severely damaged in the crash, investigators managed to retrieve the memory card from the camera and piece together how the accident happened by studying images downloaded from the card.
Based on the sequence of images recorded 137 seconds before the helicopter crashed at 11:54am, the aircraft appeared to be operating normally up to the last 126 seconds, during which time the camera mostly captured images of the mountains and Siouguluan River (秀姑巒溪).
The camera appeared to be facing upward and spinning counterclockwise between seconds 126 and 133. Starting at second 133, the camera then switched to the window below the left seat, the report said, adding that the aircraft started shaking abnormally.
Meanwhile, the speed of the helicopter rotor was slowing down from 52 percent to 38 percent.
Investigators also found that the helicopter appeared to be moving backwards.
Chi’s right foot was off the helicopter floor at second 136, the sequence showed, adding that the recording stopped at second 137.
The factual report showed that Chi was scheduled to board the helicopter on June 10 to scout scenes for his documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (看見台灣).
The scouting was to be divided into three parts. The accident happened during the third part, during which time the helicopter was to take off from Taitung County’s Chihshang Township (池上) and head to Hualien County’s Yuli (玉里), Rueisuei (瑞穗) and Fongbin (豐濱), and Taitung County’s Chenggung (成功) before returning to Chihshang.
The aircraft crashed near the Changhong Bridge (長虹橋) in Hualien County’s Fongbin Township at 11:54am.
The report indicated that the flight was conducted by two pilots. The pilot who did the first part was working with Chi for the first time, and the one who carried out the second and third parts had been working with Chi for years.
After the first part, Chi had inquired with the airline through Line about the possibility of changing pilots, and the airline granted his request.
The weather was normal on the day of the crash, the council’s data showed. No abnormality was found in the engine or fuel.
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