Leonardo AW189 crash near Lydd Airport, Kent, United Kingdom

A heating duct failed in flight releasing fragments of duct insulation material into the cabin and cockpit, causing respiratory irritation to the occupants. The aircraft landed safely. Similar heating duct failures had previously occurred in several of the operator’s other AW189 aircraft and were investigated by the AAIB (AAIB Bulletin 4/2022 report AAIB-27128 refers). As a result of those failures the aircraft manufacturer had published a service bulletin to inspect and modify the installation of the heating duct and this had been embodied on G-MCGV. At the time of publication of this report, the aircraft manufacturer has stated its intention to publish a revision to its service bulletin to make the installation of the existing duct configuration more robust, as an interim solution. In parallel, the duct manufacturer is redesigning the heating duct. The operator has also taken action to replace the heating ducts on those aircraft in its fleet which had not already experienced a duct failure. AW189, G-MCGV 02-23