Created Friday, Nov 20th 2020 17:47Z, last updated Friday, Dec 30th 2022 19:16Z
A Bristow Helicopters Nigeria Embraer ERJ-135, registration 5N-BSN performing a flight from Port Harcourt Military Airport to Lagos (Nigeria) with 30 passengers and 4 crew, was climbing through 300 feet AGL out of Port Harcourt's runway 22 when a loud bang occurred at the left hand side and the aircraft yawed to the left. EICAS showed the left hand engine (AE3007) had failed, the crew continued the climb to safe altitude at 1500 feet and secured the engine. The crew declared emergency and requested to divert to Port Harcourt International Airport when about 16nm south of POT VOR, ATC in response advised the aircraft would land on International Airport's runway 03, changing this about 2 minutes later for an ILS approach to runway 21 (winds from 260 degrees at 4 knots). The aircraft landed safely on runway 21 and taxied to the apron on single engine.
On Nov 17th 2020 Nigeria's AIB (NAIB) released their preliminary report stating, they were notified of the occurrence on Mar 9th 2020 and dispatched investigators on site on May 10th 2020. FDR and CVR were downloaded, however, the CVR was already overwritten. The captain (38, ATPL, 5,600 hours total, 1,800 hours on type thereof 70 hours in command) was pilot flying, the first officer (59, ATPL, 11,500 hours total, 1500 hours on type thereof 1500 hours in command) was pilot monitoring.
A post flight inspection revealed debris in the left engine's tail pipe. The engine had accumulated 39,409 flight hours in 26,464 cycles since new. The report states a borescopic inspection was performed, the results are yet to arrive. There is no evidence of fire.
On Dec 30th 2022 the NAIB released their final report concluding the probable causes of the serious incident were:
Engine failure due excessive inter-turbine temperature.
Contributory factors
1. The decision of the crew to continue flight operation in spite of the abnormal engine indication (Low Pressure (LP) vibration of engine No.1) during engine start.
2. Bristow’s non pragmatic approach to Engine Health Management (EHM) system.
