Preliminary reports say that a Dutch Navy helicopter type NH90 crashed near the Caribbean island of Aruba on its way to Curacao. There are probably a number of casualties, but the Dutch Defence would not confirm this.
At 5.00 Dutch time there will be a press conference by the Dutch Ministry of Defence.
Source (in Dutch): https://curacao.nu/neergestorten-helikopter-defensie/
Defense wants to recover crashed helicopter before it sinks
Defense wants to recover the naval helicopter that crashed near Aruba as soon as possible.
The plane is still floating upside down in the water,
but threatens to sink to the bottom of the sea.
"Then we have lost him," says rear admiral Boudewijn Boots.
This has major consequences for the investigation into the circumstances.
The helicopter crashed shortly before the crew attempted to land on Navy ship Zr. Ms. Groningen.
Two crew members were killed. Two others were unharmed.
Soldiers on board the patrol ship have almost certainly seen the crash happen.
The fact that the aircraft has not yet sunk is due to the four floating bodies on board.
These are a kind of balloons that are automatically inflated when the helicopter comes into contact with water.
The question is how long these floating bodies last.
Two to three kilometers deep
"The weather is quite rough, so we have not yet been able to recover the helicopter,"
said Boots, Director of Operations at Defense, during a comment to the press.
If the NH-90 does indeed sink, investigating the cause will become very difficult,
because the sea is two to three kilometers deep on the spot.
"Fortunately, the black box is secured."
Defense is consulting with a civilian company for help salvaging the device, Boots said.
He is still in the dark about the cause of the crash.
He also has no explanation that two crew members died while the other two were unharmed.
"All I can say is that the two killed soldiers were in the front
and the other more in the middle of the plane."
Last night, the crashed NH-90 helicopter sank
after two of the four floating bodies snapped, Defense reported.
It is a major setback for investigating the cause of the crash.
The wreck is now at a depth of two to three kilometers.
The four large orange balloons managed to keep the helicopter on the surface for more than 24 hours.
The station ship and the coastguard tried to salvage the helicopter
and the Ministry of Defense was in talks with a civilian company to salvage the helicopter.
It is unclear why they failed to rescue the helicopter from destruction,
but it is certain that the weather made the recovery difficult yesterday.
Defense reports that the last position of the wreck has been recorded on the surface.
The exact location at a depth of 3 km will not be fully known
because wrecks do not sink vertically.
A beacon of the helicopter (the Underwater Locator Beacon)
may therefore be of interest.
It must be activated when the appliance touched the water
and must then remain active for 30 days.
Investigation of NH90 wreck location set in motion
News item | 05-08-2020 | 18:35
The investigation into the location of the crashed NH90 maritime attack helicopter has been initiated.
This is done on behalf of the Ministry of Defense.
The plane crashed July 19 in the Caribbean near Aruba in the Sea.
Two crew members were killed.
The position of the helicopter and the ground conditions around it are now first mapped.
Based on this, it is determined whether and how the wreck can be recovered in the next phase.
Companies affiliated with the public-private partnership 'Maritime Capacity Alliance'
are carrying out the operation.
1 military expert from the Hydrographic Service takes part in this research phase.
The Defense Helicopter Command supervises the entire operation.
Possible storage
A company specialized in deep-sea surveys is now focusing on obtaining all the information
that is important for a possible salvage.
Consider the condition of the wreck.
Is it still intact or are parts spread over a larger area?
In addition to sonar equipment,
the company also uses underwater robots and drones with cameras.
All information is also made available to
the Defense Inspectorate, the Dutch Safety Board and the Public Prosecution Service.
Uit de eerste resultaten van het onderzoek lijkt het onwaarschijnlijk dat een technische of mechanische storing aan de helikopter de oorzaak is geweest van het ongeluk op 19 juli jl. met een NH90-helikopter van Defensie in de Caribische zee, waarbij twee bemanningsleden om het leven kwamen. Tot die conclusie komt de Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid naar aanleiding van onderzoek ter plaatse dat samen met de Inspectie Veiligheid Defensie (IVD) is gedaan en de eerste analyse van de gegevens uit de beschikbare bronnen, waaronder de recorder van het verongelukte toestel. Dit beeld wordt bevestigd in een second opinion die werd uitgevoerd door het Nederlands Lucht- en Ruimtevaartcentrum (NLR).
Short translation: it seems unlikely a technical failure was the cause of the accident. Further investigation is required to find out what happened.
Crashed NH90 helicopter found
News release | 10-08-2020 | 19:04
The NH90 maritime attack helicopter that crashed into the sea in the Caribbean on July 19
was found yesterday.
In the crash, 2 crew members were killed.
A public-private partnership, the Maritime Capacity Alliance , mapped out the position of the aircraft.
The device appears to be divided into 2 parts.
1 piece is located at the spot where the plane crashed into the sea, about 12 kilometers off the coast of Aruba.
The other part has been found about 100 kilometers away.
Defense has investigated whether the remains can be salvaged.
Salvage experts yesterday found the Dutch NH90 helicopter that crashed in the Caribbean last month.
Part of the helicopter was found at the spot where the plane crashed into the sea,
12 kilometers off the coast of Aruba.
The hull was found about 100 kilometers away, Defense reports.
Both parts lie on the seabed.
The fact that part of the helicopter was found so far from the original crash location,
according to a Defense spokesman,
is because the fuselage of the aircraft was initially kept afloat by balloons and drifted away as a result.
At that moment there was a strong current.
The plane sank after the balloons burst.
The ministry has investigated whether it is still possible to recover the helicopter.
No technical problem
The Defense Safety Inspectorate concluded last week
that the crash was probably not caused by a technical or mechanical failure.
After an inspection of the black box, among other things,
it appears that the helicopter unexpectedly dropped and crashed into the sea.
What was the cause of this is not yet clear.
All NH90 helicopters were grounded for some time pending the investigation.
The helicopters are now back in use.
Waarom maakte de NH90 Defensiehelikopter in juli plotseling een fatale beweging omlaag,
waardoor deze bij Aruba in zee crashte met twee doden tot gevolg?
Dat gaat de Inspectie Veiligheid Defensie (IVD) onderzoeken op vliegbasis Gilze-Rijen,
waar de helikopterresten afgelopen weekend zijn aangevoerd.
In de rest van het onderzoek worden onder meer de bemanningsleden gehoord over de gang van zaken. ,
Bij de crash brak het toestel in tweeën. Het staartstuk zonk meteen naar 500 meter diepte.
De cockpit werd drijvend gehouden met een soort ballonnen.
Met de stroming dreef dit deel 100 kilometer verder, waarna het alsnog zonk naar 1500 meter.
,,Beide delen konden supersnel worden geborgen
met hulp van een consortium van bedrijven dat samenwerkt met Defensie"
,,Dit weekend werden ze in twee containers van 4 meter hoog en 4 meter breed met een oplegger naar Gilze-Rijen gebracht.
Beelden brengen we niet naar buiten.
Zeker niet van de restanten, want die zijn onderwerp van onderzoek van de IVD
en we willen speculaties niet in de hand werken.
Ook voor de rouwverwerking van de familie doen we dit niet.”
Het ongeval vond plaats tijdens het oefenen van deklandingen van de helikopter op het schip.
Uit het onderzoek van de Onderzoeksraad blijkt dat de helikopter in de problemen kwam doordat het toestel,
door het maken van een bocht, op gelijke snelheid kwam met de wind.
Hierdoor hing het toestel als het ware stil in de lucht.
Er is dan veel extra vermogen nodig om de helikopter in de lucht te houden.
De vlieger zette extra vermogen in,
maar door de lage vlieghoogte was het onmogelijk om de ingezette daling nog op tijd te corrigeren.
De helikopter verloor snel hoogte en raakte binnen enkele seconden te water.
Vanaf het marineschip zag men de helikopter in zee storten en werd direct een reddingsoperatie ingezet.
De twee inzittenden achterin het toestel konden zichzelf bevrijden en werden uit het water gehaald.
De vlieger en de tactisch coördinator voorin de helikopter hebben zichzelf niet op tijd kunnen losmaken van het toestel en zijn verdronken.
Uit het onderzoek blijkt dat de bemanning van Zr.Ms. Groningen grote inzet hebben getoond om hun collega’s te redden.
Door de hoge golven en de beperkte capaciteit en toerusting aan boord was men echter niet in staat de redding met succes uit te voeren.
The accident took place while practicing the helicopter's deck landings on the ship.
The investigation by the Dutch Safety Board shows that the helicopter ran into problems because the aircraft,
by making a turn, it came at a speed with the wind.
As a result, the device hung still in the air, as it were.
A lot of extra power is then needed to keep the helicopter in the air.
The kite put in extra power,
but due to the low altitude, it was impossible to correct the initiated descent in time.
The helicopter quickly lost altitude and hit the water within seconds.
From the navy ship, the helicopter was seen crashing into the sea and a rescue operation was immediately launched.
The two occupants in the back of the aircraft were able to free themselves and were taken out of the water.
The pilot and the tactical coordinator in the front of the helicopter were unable to detach themselves from the aircraft in time and drowned.
The investigation shows that the crew of HNLMS Groningen have shown great commitment to save their colleagues.
However, due to the high waves and the limited capacity and equipment on board, it was not possible to carry out the rescue successfully.
/aeroflot.gif)
So sad.. RIP and blue skies!/reeve.gif)
