Brazilian Helideck Rollover After Precautionary Landing (Delta Aero Taxi Airbus AS350B on YM OPUS)
On 9 June 2022 Airbus AS350B PT-HMD of Delta Aero Taxi rolled over on the helideck of bulk carrier YM OPUS in the Bay of São Marcos, Brazil after making a precautionary landing.
Wreckage of Delta Aero Taxi Airbus AS350B PT-HMD on Deck of PT OPUS (Credit: CENIPA)
The Brazilian accident investigation agency CENPIA published their safety investigation report on 2 June 2025.
The Accident Flight
The pilot (2600 total hours but only 17:25 on type) was returning onshore after dropping passengers on the bulk carrier SM GEMINI 2. The passengers had disembarked with the rotors running and a passenger had closed the helicopter door.
Shortly after the pilot reported “hearing an abnormal noise and experiencing unusual aircraft vibration”. He reduced speed to c 60 knots “but the phenomena persisted”.
Upon inspecting the aircraft interior during flight, he noticed that the left door was not
closed appropriately. This led him to suspect that the noise originated from a seat belt buckle striking the fuselage.
The pilot decided to perform a precautionary landing the YM OPUS. Upon landing the pilot reportedly “locked the controls” and while rotors running intended to step out and check the door. Though prohibited by the Brazilian Code of Aeronautics, disembarking while rotors running was described as “habitual” in that operator.
At that moment, the helicopter tipped over while he was still inside the cabin.
Delta Aero Taxi Airbus AS350B PT-HMD: Direction of landing and possible direction of the rollover (Credit: CENIPA)
Delta Aero Taxi Airbus AS350B PT-HMD: Tail rotor contact marks on the helideck (Credit: CENIPA)
The pilot suffered minor injuries.
Safety Investigation
External dents support the pilot’s hypotheses of a seat belt stuck outside the door. However:
…photographic evidence from the accident site showed that the position of the collective pitch control was fully up, indicating that it had not been locked.
The cyclic control, on the other hand, had its friction fully tightened.
CENIPA found the operator did not have specific training for operating from offshore helidecks and that offshore operations were not part of their approved Operations Specifications.
CENIPA note that:
Airbus Helicopters’ Safety Information Notice (SIN) nº 3268-S-00 warned about incidents in which helicopters inadvertently lifted off due to collective pitch movement without pilot input. The notice concluded that failure to lock the collective after landing was a contributing factor in such events.
Safety Resources
The European Safety Promotion Network Rotorcraft (ESPN-R) has a helicopter safety discussion group on LinkedIn. You may also find these Aerossurance articles of interest:
- Be Careful If You Step Outside!: Unoccupied Rotors Running AS350 Takes Off
- AS350B3 Rolls Over: Pilot Caught Out By Engine Control Differences
- 29 Seconds to Impact: A Fatal Night Offshore Approach in the Irish Sea
- CHC Sikorsky S-92A Seat Slide Surprise(s)
- Marine Pilot Transfer Winching Accident: referenced in the Royal College of Art (RCA) & Lloyd’s Register Foundation Safety Grand Challenge: Safe Ship Boarding & Thames Safest River 2030
- Engine & Emergency Flotation Failures – Greenland B206L4 Ditching
- North Sea Helicopter Struck Sea After LOC-I on Approach During Night Shuttling
- Loss of Sikorsky S-76C+ 5N-BQG of Eastwind Off Nigeria 24 October 2024
- South Korean Night Black Hole Spatial Disorientation Fatal Helicopter Accident
- Loss of Control, Twice, by Offshore Helicopter off Nova Scotia
- Offshore Night Near Miss: Marine Pilot Transfer Unintended Descent
- AAIB Report on 2013 Sumburgh Helicopter Accident
- Fatal Offshore S-76C++ LOC-I & Water Impact Brazil 2022: CENIPA Investigation
- SAR Helicopter Loss of Control at Night: ATSB Report
- NTSB Investigation into AW139 Bahamas Night Take Off Accident
- Night Offshore Training AS365N3 Accident in India 2015
- HEMS S-76C+ Night Approach LOC-I Incident
- NH90 Caribbean Loss of Control – Inflight, Water Impact and Survivability Issues
- AAIB Report on 2013 Sumburgh Helicopter Accident
- AAIB Report on the Ditchings of EC225 G-REDW 10 May 2012 & G-CHCN 22 Oct 2012
- ADA AW139 A6-AWN Ditching off UAE, 29 April 2017: Final Report
- Night Offshore Windfarm HEMS Winch Training CFIT
- NTSB Report on Bizarre 2012 US S-76B Ditching
- Fatal USCG SAR Training Flight: Inadvertent IMC
- Loss of Bell 412 off Brazil Remains Unexplained
- Hong Kong Harbour AW139 Ditching – HKCAD Report Issued
- Dramatic Malaysian S-76C 2013 Ditching Video
- Offshore Helicopter Emergency Response
- Blinded by Light, Spanish Customs AS365 Crashed During Night-time Hot Pursuit
- BK117 Offshore Medevac CFIT & Survivability Issues
- Night Offshore Take-Off Loss of Control Incident
- Night Offshore Helicopter Approach Water Impact
- S-76D Loss of Control on Approach to an Indian Drilling Rig
- Review of “The impact of human factors on pilots’ safety behavior in offshore aviation – Brazil”
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