Staff for Life Helicopter - Non-injury incident

DATE		1/23/03  

PROGRAM		Staff for Life Helicopter

VENDOR		RMH

ADDRESS
		University of Missouri Hospital
		One Hospital Drive
		Columbia, MO

WEATHER		Clear, Cold, 2F

AIRCRAFT_TYPE	BK 117 B1

TAIL#		N10UM

TEAM		Pilot, Mechanic. No injuries reported. No patient. 
		 

DESCRIPTION	On the previous night, a/c experienced extreme 
		roll oscillations and a #1 hydraulic 
		failure.Aircraft made a safe landing at the 
		airport.  After bleeding the system the next 
		morning and cleaning the roll actuator, an 
		operational check flight was performed.  It should 
		be noted that the OAT was 2 and the a/c was in a 
		heated hangar all night.  Start and run-up were 
		normal.  The crew lifted and headed west of the 
		airfield to the test flight area.  Approximately 
		15 min. into flight, the roll oscillations began, 
		mild at first, becoming stronger.  Roll C-SAS was 
		disengaged but oscillations continued.  Temp at 
		altitude was -15F.  The SPAS was disengaged but 
		had no effect so the SPAS was re-engaged.  As the 
		crew started to return to the airfield, the shart 
		rt. roll inputs to the cyclic continued.  Soon the 
		HYD#@ light came on and an emergency procedure was 
		executed with a safe landing at the airfield.  
		Both Hyd pressures were normal.  The crew reset 
		the system to #1 and re-engaged the C-SAS.  No 
		leaks were noted in the Hyd compartment.  The 
		pilot brought the a/c to a hover and vigorously 
		checked all flight controls.  Nothing abnomal was 
		noted.  The crew decided to fly the pattern with 
		the roll eisengaged.  On down wind, the shart rt. 
		roll oscillations began again followed by #1 Hyd 
		failure.  Emergency procedure was executed, Yaw 
		C-SAS disengaged.  The cyclic was getting heavy 
		(left turns).  Turning final the cyclic continued 
		to get stiffer.  At approximately 5', the cyclic 
		could no longer be moved left.  A short run on 
		landing was performed with normal shutdown. 

ADDITIONAL INFO	Also noteworthy is the cyclic could be freely 
		moved fore, aft and right.  Only the left quadrant 
		was affected.  All other controls performed 
		normally.  The Hyd pack was replaced and sent to 
		Eurocopter for testing.  Results of test are not 
		known at this time. 

SOURCE		Jim Saylor, Safety Coordinator

VIA		Roseanne Krantz, CONCERN

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The CONCERN network shares verified information to alert medical
transport programs when an accident / incident has occurred.
Please share the above information with your program staff. If
you have further questions, please contact the CONCERN Coordinator,
Roseann Krantz @ 1-800-75-SHOCK or rjkrantz@aol.com.