The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of Ireland has concluded that “loss of control in flight during transition from forward flight to hover due to the collective pitch lever movement being restricted by a loose article” led to a Sept. 15, 2022, accident involving an Airbus Helicopters EC155B at Shannon Airport (EINN). According to the AAIU’s final report, that article was an unsecured portable power bank.
Registered EI-XHI, the helicopter was on a positioning flight from Loughrea, County Galway, to Shannon with only the 50-year-old ATP-certified pilot aboard. As it approached the light aircraft parking area, the AAIU found, the pilot attempted to flare and transition to a hover. However, the collective pitch lever “available movement…was in the order of 20–25 mm,” or close to one inch, “from the full down position,” preventing the pilot from controlling the descent.
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