Eurocopter EC 130B4 crash near Atlantis Palm Heliport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The final flight of the day was a fifteen-minute positioning run from the Atlantis Palm heliport to Helidubai's base at Dubai International, without revenue passengers, crewed by the handling pilot and a helicopter landing officer. The helicopter climbed while rotating counter-clockwise, arrested the climb at 15 to 25 metres, then descended rapidly, pitching forward and still turning left, and struck the helipad at over 20g. Damage to the primary and secondary structure and dynamic components was extensive. Both occupants were incapacitated, and the aircraft rotated across the heliport for five minutes until reaching a curb. Ground crew shut the engine down and removed the seriously injured crew. The investigation found the cause was an intentional entry into a continuous left pedal turn which rapidly increased the rotation rate beyond the pilot's ability to respond, producing spatial disorientation; unable to identify the cause, he lowered the collective, resulting in an uncontrolled descent. The final report carried ten safety recommendations.