- Date
- March 21, 2018
- Place
- Hardy Reef, Queensland, Australia
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 2 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- VH-WIIEurocopter EC120
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Unknown or undetermined
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Lead agency
- Other
- Case key
- 96905
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Factual narrative
On March 21, 2018, about 1500 local time, a Eurocopter (Airbus Helicopters) EC120B helicopter, VH-WII, sustained substantial damage when it impacted water during an aborted landing attempt on a floating helicopter landing site (HLS) located between Hardy Reef and Hook Reef, in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Queensland, Australia. The helicopter was operated by Whitsunday Air Services Pty Ltd, and had departed Hamilton Island Airport, Queensland, on a charter flight to the HLS. The commercial pilot was uninjured, two passengers received minor injuries, and two passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed.The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Australia. This report is for information purposes only and contains only information released by the Government of Australia. Further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from: Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) P.O. Box 967, Civic Square Canberra A.C.T. 2608 Australia Tel: +612 6274 6054 Fax: +612 6274 6434 www.atsb.gov.au
Aircraft
- Registration
- VH-WII
- Reported as
- Eurocopter EC120 (B)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engine
- Turbomeca Amus 2F, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Operator
- Whitsunday Air Services
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal