Originally registered in Germany as D-HJMB, and then later in Kazakhstan as UP-EC004. Damaged, Subject To Insurance Claim For Impact Damage. Damaged In Transit In Container From Kazakhstan To Australia. Serial No: S1301,WOVR Status: WOVR N/A, Incident Type: Impact. This EC120B helicopter, serial number 1301, was manufactured by Eurocopter in 2002. It appears it had initially been registered in Germany as D-HJMB, and then later in Kazakhstan as UP-EC004. The records for the helicopter showed it has a Total Time In Service (TTIS) of 2,261.9 hours and 4,284 landings. Last recorded flight appears to have been on 26th January 2017. The last maintenance recorded in the aircraft logbook was a "General Overhaul" of the battery, which appears to have been performed on 27th June 2017 in Kazakhstan. The maintenance prior to that, carried out on 26th December 2016 at TTIS 2,255.2 hours/4,269 landings in Kazakhstan, was a 6 monthly inspection, main rotor balance, and a minor defect rectification. Subsequent to the last recorded maintenance, there are also records that show engine ground runs (EGR's) being carried out on 7 occasions, approximately each month, between August 2017 and the last recorded one in January 2018. These EGR's may have been the reason the battery was "overhauled" on 27th June 2017 – to facilitate the ability to start and run the engine for the subsequent EGR's. On the basis of the details available, it appears that the helicopter had not been in an airworthy condition since sometime in 2017.
We note a local repairer to have conducted two successful ground runs in mid-April 2025 as part of their inspection following arrival in Australia, indicating no sign of mechanical degradation due to prolonged storage. Damage Observations Form Assessment Inspect (Not confirmed, damage may be more or less than outlined below):
1. Lower section of the honeycomb composite structure of Fenestron severely fractured/broken up. There were black marks noted on and around the impact site, which may be due to contact. There was also evidence of chafing on the lower surface areas adjacent to the impact site, which would indicate that the lower surface had been in contact with another object over a period of time while in transit. 2. There did not appear to be any visually obvious distortion/deformation of the aluminium alloy aft bulkhead of the fuselage to which the forward end of the tail boom is bolted, nor were there any obvious visual signs of damage on the outer surface of the composite structure of the tail boom. 3. The lower surface at the aft lower end of the right keel beam on the fuselage (immediately above where the landing gear aft cross tube would normally be located) had been fractured and displaced slightly upwards, and there was a crack in both the adjacent horizontal and vertical radius' of the beam. This appears to likely have occurred as a result of this area of the helicopter structure in this area heavily impacting on the failed rear support tube of the shipping fixture. 4. Various areas of minor impact damage and paint flaking on the aft tailcone fairing. 5. Minor localised distortion of the upper trailing edge of the vertical stabiliser – the stabiliser tip fairing had been removed prior to shipping for height clearance purposes inside the container. 6. There were chafing marks on the landing gear aft right fairing upper surface – the fairing is a composite material, constructed from CFRP. 7. The VOR antenna on the right side of the tail boom was bent downwards. 8. We did not view the main rotor blades, which were reportedly still inside the long yellow blade crate, however no external damage was noted during our initial survey. |