On July 10 2010, a Sky Shuttle helicopter carrying 11 passengers and two crew members was forced to make an emergency landing at sea in Victoria Harbour while en route to Macau. They landed not long after take-off, just 500m northwest from Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan at noon. All passengers and crew were rescued and brought to safety and taken to the hospital. No one sustained any serious injuries.
Four years later, Civil Aviation Department experts have determined that a mechanical failure in one of the tail’s rotor blades caused the entire tail rotor and the tail gearbox to detach, causing the pilots to lose directional control of the aircraft. Their report also says that the failure is most likely due to poor quality of manufacturing. Yikes! The next time you take a helicopter anywhere (which we’re sure is like, all the time), make sure it’s not an Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter.
The report said that since the accident both the manufacturer of the airplane and the relevant regulatory authorities have amended their safety regulations.
Photo: by Peter Bakema via Wikimedia Commons
