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In accordance with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, an inspector's investigation is in progress to determine the circumstances and causes relating to the accident involving an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter operated by East Asia Airlines with registration mark B-MHJ at Victoria Harbour on July 3, 2010.
The investigation is being conducted by a team of investigators from the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) with assistance from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo of Italy, Air Accidents Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, and AgustaWestland, the manufacturer of the AW139 helicopter.
The investigation team today (July 27) released a preliminary report on the accident.
A spokesman for the CAD said that the preliminary report contains facts relating to the accident as determined up to the time of issue and must be regarded as tentative.
"The investigation team will continue to collect and study all relevant information in order to determine the circumstances and causes relating to the accident. More in-depth investigation and analysis work has to be done before any conclusion can be drawn," the spokesman said.
"This preliminary report is published at this stage for general information," he added.
The full preliminary report is at the annex. It is also available for download at the CAD webpage (www.cad.gov.hk/english/reports.html).
Ends/Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:05
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