British Airways Helicopters Flight 5918
On July 16, 1983, British Airways Helicopters Flight 5918. 20 people died.
- Date
- July 16, 1983
- Place
- —
- Operator
- British Airways Helicopters
- Killed
- 20
- Position
- 49.923°N, 6.248°W
- Wikidata ID
- Q4580942
From Wikipedia
On 16 July 1983, British Airways Helicopters Flight 5918, a British Airways Helicopters commercial Sikorsky S-61 helicopter, Oscar November (G-BEON), crashed in the southern Celtic Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean, while en route from Penzance to St Mary's, Isles of Scilly in poor visibility. Only six of the twenty-six people on board survived. It was Britain's worst civil aviation helicopter accident at the time.
An investigation was promptly carried out by the Accidents Investigation Branch (AIB), though calls for a public inquiry were dismissed. The AIB found that the accident was caused by pilot error, in failing to notice and correct an unintentional descent when attempting to fly at low altitude in poor visibility. Other contributory factors were found to be a failure to monitor flight instruments adequately, and a lack of audio height warning equipment.
The crash sparked a review of helicopter safety, and eight recommendations were made by the AIB.
Text from Wikipedia, “British Airways Helicopters Flight 5918”, CC BY-SA 4.0; shortened to the introduction. Authors.
Source: Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Figures such as deaths are as recorded there and may differ from official reports.
