page_title: Eurocopter AS355 Écureuil 2
section_title: Accidents and incidents
hierarchical_section_title: Eurocopter AS355 Écureuil 2 / Accidents and incidents
caption_attribution_description: English: ABC (VH-NTV), Eurocopter AS355 F2, over the Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga during the December 2010 floods. On 18 August 2011, the helicopter crashed (cause is under investigation) near Lake Eyre, killing Gary Ticehurst (pilot), John Bean (cameraman) and Paul Lockyer (journalist).
context_page_description: The Eurocopter AS355 Écureuil 2 is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and originally manufactured by Aérospatiale in France
  The Écureuil 2 was directly derived from the single-engined AS350 Écureuil, performing its maiden flight on 28 September 1979 and introduced to service shortly thereafter. The type was commonly marketed in North America as the TwinStar. During the 1990s, Aérospatiale merged its helicopter interests into the multinational Eurocopter consortium; under this new entity, the Écureuil 2 continued to be manufactured. Shortly after Eurocopter's rebranding as Airbus Helicopters, the group decided to discontinue production of the Écureuil 2 during 2016, however, production of its single-engined siblings has continued since then.
context_section_description: On 8 May 1992, the Western Australian Police Polair One helicopter crashed while attempting to land on a sports oval for a public display in Kelmscott. The helicopter was destroyed after a fire started in the engine bay following ground impact. The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation report determined "The helicopter probably entered a vortex ring state during the final approach". The pilot and crewman received minor injuries, and the two passengers serious injuries, as a result of the accident.
  On 22 October 1996, an AS355 F1 Squirrel, registration G-CFLT, crashed in bad weather near Middlewich, Cheshire, England, killing all five on board. The people on board included Matthew Harding, a businessman and vice chairman of English football club Chelsea F.C. (the flight was returning to London from a Chelsea match in Bolton). The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that the pilot had insufficient qualifications and experience to fly in such poor conditions; the agency also recommended a ban on commercial helicopter night flying.
  In July 1998, the Kent Air Ambulance, an AS355 F1 Squirrel, crashed in good weather after colliding with power cables near Burham whilst returning to Rochester Airport following an aborted call to attend a road accident. All three crew – the pilot, Graham Budden, and two paramedics, Tony Richardson and Mark Darby – were killed on impact.
  On 2 May 2007, Chelsea Football Club Vice President Philip Carter, founder of training company Carter and Carter, crashed in his part-owned Twin Squirrel registration G-BYPA returning from Liverpool John Lennon Airport after watching Chelsea play Liverpool F.C..
  On 18 August 2011, an AS-355F-2 (reg No/ VH-NTV) crashed near Lake Eyre in South Australia, resulting in three fatalities. The helicopter was owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. On board were Gary Ticehurst (ABC chief helicopter pilot for 25 years), John Bean (cameraman) and Paul Lockyer (journalist). In response to the accident, Australia tightened the rules governing helicopter night flights.
  On 20 October 2011, a Belarus border patrol Eurocopter twin-engine helicopter crashed close to the village of Vileity near the Lithuanian border and burst into flames, killing all five people on board, including three members of a television crew.
  On 29 March 2017, a Eurocopter AS-355F-1 Ecureuil 2 was lost over the Snowdonia National Park in Wales whilst en route from Luton to Dublin, carrying five people on board.
caption: VH-NTV in December 2010
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