Accident Reports
Abbreviations: D: Date N/U: Nationality/Units T: Type S: SerialsD: Feb 2, 2018
N: French Army Aviation Corps
T: 2 x SA342L-1 Gazelle
S: 4209 ‘GEE’ and 4212 ‘GEH’
Five ALAT personnel were killed
when these two helicopters
crashed shortly after take-off at
0830hrs from their base at Le Luc-
Le Cannet des Maures. They
came down at 0905hrs near Lac
de Carcès, near Brignoles in the
Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
region of southeastern France,
possibly after a mid-air collision.
D: Feb 2
N/U: Uruguayan Air Force/
Escuadrón Aéreo No 7
T: T-41D Mescalero
S: FAU-603
Returning from an operational flight
as part of Operation Safe Summer
to identify forest fires, the aircraft
suffered an engine failure, forcing
the crew to ditch in the sea at
around 1600hrs close to the Mansa
Beach, Punta del Este, Maldonado.
After it entered the water, the crew
were able to exit but suffered
injuries. The aircraft, from
Escuadrón Aéreo No 7 of Brigada
Aérea III, based at Montevideo-
Melilla, was the only operational
T-41D remaining in FAU service.
D: Feb 5
N/U: Japan Ground Self-
Defense Force/3rd Anti-
Tank Helicopter Squadron
T: AH-64DJP Apache
S: 74502 ‘JG-4502’
During a post-overhaul test
flight from Metabaru Air Base
at 1643hrs, seven minutes after
take-off, the helicopter suddenly
plunged nose-first into the ground,
crashing onto a house about 2.5
miles (4km) south of the airfield
at Chiyoda, Kanzaki City, Saga
Prefecture. Both crew members
were killed and a child on the
ground suffered a minor injury.
Eyewitnesses said the main
rotorhead appeared to have
disintegrated in flight, and on
February 7 it was recovered,
along with two blades, from
the main crash site. A third
main blade was found 547yds
(500m) away in a stream, while
the fourth was not discovered
until February 9, 328yds (300m)
away – both still with parts of the
rotorhead attached, indicating that
disintegration was most likely.
The helicopter, which had
1,733 flight hours, had been
undergoing routine 50-hour
maintenance between January
18 and February 4, along with
replacement of the rotorhead,
which is required every 1,750hrs.
On February 14 it was revealed
that the replacement unit was not
new but had been used by another
AH-64D for 845 flight hours until
removed in April 2010 due to wear
and vibration. It was then repaired
in the US before installation on
the Apache that crashed.D: Feb 5
N: Taiwan National Airborne
Service Corps
T: UH-60M Black Hawk
S: NA-706
Undertaking an emergency medical
services flight from Lanyu Airport,
Orchid Island, to Taitung (Feng
Nien) Airport, the helicopter lostradar and radio contact while it
was flying over the sea at 2352hrs,
just three minutes after take-off.
On board were two crew members
along with a mechanic, a nurse
and a patient accompanied by
one of their family members. Bad
weather hampered the search
for the helicopter and there was
no sign of it or the occupants.D: Feb 6
N/U: Republic of Korea Air
Force/Black Eagles
T: T-50B Golden Eagle
S: ‘Black Eagles 6’
While taking off at 1324hrs from
Singapore-Changi International
Airport for a flying display during
the Singapore Airshow, the aircraft
veered off runway 1 and flipped,
inverted, on the grass. The
pilot was cut out of the cockpit
and taken to the airport clinicwhere he was treated for minor
injuries and released. A fire,
which erupted as a result of the
crash, was extinguished by the
Airport Emergency Service.D: Feb 7
N: Tunisian Air Force
T: UH-1H Iroquois?
One crew member was killed
and two others critically injured
when this helicopter crashed
shortly after take-off from
Sousse Barracks, Bouficha. A
UH-1H detachment from 32
Squadron at Bizerte/Karouba is
maintained at Sousse Barracks,
but it’s unconfirmed whether this
was the type that crashed.D: Feb 8
N/U: Kenyan Air Force/Tactical
Fighter Wing/15 Tactical
Fighter Squadron
T: F-5E Tiger II
This aircraft crashed near the
Northern Rangeland Trust’s Il
Ng’wesi Community Wildlife
Conservancy, on the Laikipia-Isiolo
county border, following an in-flight
fire on a sortie from its base at
Laikipia/Nanyuki. The pilot ejected
safely, suffering only minor injuries.D: Feb 10
N: Afghan Air Force
T: Mi-17
This helicopter was written off
during a hard emergency landing
following a technical malfunction
near the village of Basirkhelo, in the
Darqad district of northern Takhar
province. There were no fatalities.
The Mi-17 was one of two that
arrived as part of the ongoing
offensive by security forces in
the Mawara-i-Kokcha area.D: Feb 10
N: Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps Air and Space
Force
T: Saeghe UAV
After infiltrating Israeli airspace
and flying over the Golan Heights
following launch from T-4 air
base at Tiyas, west of Palmyra,
Syria, this UAV was monitored
before being shot down by an
Israeli AH-64D Apache from 113
‘Hornet’ Squadron at 0425hrs
near Beit She’an, having flown
up to 4 miles (6.4km) into Israeli
airspace. The Saeghe is a reverse-
engineered, piston-engine copy
of the Lockheed MartinAbove: The wreckage of Escuadrón Aéreo No 7 Cessna T-41D Mescalero FAU-
603 during recovery operations. Correo de PuntoAbove: Taiwan National Airborne Service Corps UH-60M Black Hawk NA-706
flying at Hualien on November 15 last year. It was reported missing on February
5 with six on board and has still not been found. Hans van der Wilt/GMAPhttp://www.airforcesmonthly.com #361 APRIL 2018 // 91