Aérospatiale AS 332

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Aérospatiale AS 332 "Super Puma" / "Cougar"
AS 332 "Super Puma"
Type: Medium-weight transport helicopter
Design country:

FranceFrance France United Kingdom
United KingdomUnited Kingdom 

Manufacturer:
First flight:

September 13, 1978

The Aérospatiale AS 332 is a helicopter from the French manufacturer Aérospatiale , later Eurocopter and now Airbus Helicopters . The AS 332 is used both civilly with the nickname "Super Puma" and militarily as "Cougar" . It is based on the Aérospatiale SA 330 , but is an enlarged design whose first flight took place on September 13, 1978.

The latest civil version is the EC 225 , it is equipped with a folding five-bladed main rotor instead of a four-bladed one and has a higher take -off weight . There is also a military version of this version, the EC 725 Cougar .

use

The machine became a great economic success for the manufacturer. A total of 37 armed forces were equipped with the type, and it is also used by around 1,000 civilian operators; mainly used there for oil production near the coast or on the open sea (English offshore ). It is sold in the military version as the Eurocopter "Cougar" .

The EC725 is the first military Eurocopter that has been equipped as a CSAR helicopter for rescue flights in combat zones since 1990 ; this version was introduced in France as the Caracal .

Germany

In Germany, the civilian version “Super Puma” (Puma AS 332 L1) was purchased for the Federal Border Police and is still  in use today by its successor organization - the Federal Police . The military version "Cougar" is used by the Ministry of Defense's flight readiness . In both cases, these helicopters are primarily used to transport members of the constitutional organs , but they are also used in search and rescue services , in disaster control and for humanitarian aid .

Switzerland

The Swiss Air Force has 15 Aérospatiale AS 332 M1 Super Puma (transport helicopters 89/06 with registrations T-311 to T-325) and 10 (after the loss of T-341 on March 30, 2011 in Maderanertal and the loss of T-338 on September 28, 2016 at Gotthard Hospice) Eurocopter AS 532 UL Cougar Mk1 (transport helicopter 98 with registrations T-331 to T-342, the T-331 as a VIP version).

Versions

Super Puma cargo helicopter installing the antenna
A Super Puma AS 332 L2 of the Hong Kong Government Flying Service dropping fire-fighting water as part of a rescue exercise at Hong Kong International Airport
Super Puma of the Swiss Air Force
Super Puma of the German Federal Police
Cockpit of an AS 332 L1 Super Puma

Standard models with 1130 kW Makila -1A turbines:

  • AS 332B: Army version
  • AS 332F: Marine version with folding tail boom
  • AS 332C: civil version

Versions extended by 76 cm:

  • AS 332M: military version
  • AS 332L: civil version

Versions equipped with Makila 1A1 turbines with an output of 1185 kW:

  • AS 532L "Cougar": military version
  • AS 532SC "Cougar": marine version
  • AS 332L1 "Super Puma": civil version
  • AS 332C1e: Cargo helicopter with improved operating and maintenance costs
  • AS 332L1e: SAR and VIP helicopters with improved operating and maintenance costs
  • AS 532AL +: Military version with improved operating and maintenance costs

Versions equipped with 1236 kW Makila 1A2 turbines:

  • AS 532U2 "Cougar": military version
  • AS 332L2 "Super Puma": civil version
  • AS 532AL "Cougar": military version

Technical specifications

Aérospatiale AS 332
Parameter Data AS 332L1
crew 1-2
Passengers up to 24 or 29 soldiers (version Mk2 +)
Maximum payload 4140 kg
length 16.29 m
Rotor diameter 15.6 m
height 4.60 m
Empty weight 4510 kg
Maximum takeoff weight 8600 kg, with external load 9350 kg
drive 2 × Turboméca Makila 1A1 shaft turbines, each with 1357 kW starting power and 1185 kW continuous power
Top speed 278 km / h
Maximum cruising speed 262 km / h
Range 841 km
Service ceiling 2895 m (altitude)
Hover altitude 3250 m (with ground effect )

Armament

Movable armament installed in the door

Air-to-surface guided missile ( anti-ship missile )

Unguided air-to-surface missiles

  • 2 × Matra Type 156 rocket tube launch containers for 19 × unguided air-to-ground missiles SNEB ; Caliber 68 mm
  • 2 × Thales Brandt rocket tube launchers for 19 × unguided TDA air-to-ground missiles; Caliber 68 mm
  • 2 × Forges de Zeebrugge M159 rocket tube launch container for 19 × unguided TDA air-to-surface missiles; Caliber 68 mm

External container

  • 2 × machine canon container POD NC 621, each with a 20 mm automatic cannon Nexter 20M621 with 180 rounds of ammunition

Self-protection systems

  • 4 × radar warning sensor (RWR) Dassault Electronique EWR-99 FRUIT
  • 4 × laser warning sensor (LWR)
  • 4 × guided missile proximity warning sensor (MAW)
  • 2 × decoys launcher Alkan ELIPS

Incidents

  • On January 19, 1995, a Eurocopter AS 332L deployed on Bristow Flight 56C was supposed to transport 16 employees to the Brae Alpha oil platform . The machine was struck by lightning over the North Sea and then had to make an emergency landing. All 18 occupants survived the accident.
  • On August 16, 17 Spanish soldiers died in the crash of a Eurocopter AS 532UL Cougar belonging to the Spanish Army Aviation (HU.21L-57) . The helicopter was in Afghanistan as part of the ISAF protection force and crashed in the morning near Herat while it was being shot at with anti-aircraft fire from a nearby village. Another Spanish helicopter of the same type (HU.21L-59) had to make an emergency landing in the vicinity after being shot at, with 5 injured. The machine was also destroyed.
  • On April 1, 2009, a Super Puma AS 332L2 crashed into the North Sea on its return flight from the Miller oil platform 60 kilometers northeast of Aberdeen - around 25 kilometers east of Peterhead . All 16 inmates were killed.
  • On July 25, 2012, an AS532 Cougar military helicopter crashed into the Verdon Gorge in southern France during a test and control flight before delivery , killing all six Eurocopter employees.
  • On March 21, 2013, during an exercise at the Olympiastadion Berlin , a Eurocopter AS 332L1 of the Federal Police collided with a Eurocopter EC 155 B that had already landed. The pilot of the EC 155 B was killed and four people were seriously injured.
  • On August 23, 2013, four inmates were killed in the crash of a Super Puma AS 332L2 when the machine crashed into the sea on its flight from the North Sea drilling platform Borgsten Dolphin to Sumburgh Airport on the Shetland Islands .
  • On April 29, 2016, all 13 people on board were killed in a crash in Norway . The crash happened on the return flight from an oil platform to the coast. The European Aviation Safety Agency then ordered an inspection of the machines and issued a provisional flight ban for the types AS332 L2 and H225 LP on June 2, 2016 . With regard to the crash in Norway, new, strict maintenance rules have been in effect since August 2017 for similar aircraft of the Air Force readiness to fly , which make normal flight operations and thus the use as "government helicopters" impossible.
  • On September 28, 2016, when a Super Puma of the Swiss Air Force crashed on the Gotthard Pass, the two pilots were killed and a flight attendant was injured.

Web links

Commons : Eurocopter Cougar  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Hans-Jürgen Schmidt: We wear the eagle of the federal government on the rock - Chronicle of the Federal Border Police 1951-1971. Fiedler-Verlag, Coburg 1995, ISBN 3-923434-17-0 , p. 61.
  2. Swiss Air Force website ( Memento from October 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. accident report AS532 Cougar HU.21L-57 , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase (English), accessed on February 17 2020th
  4. accident report AS532 Cougar HU.21L-59 , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase (English), accessed on February 17 2020th
  5. Helicopter crash: Presumably all 16 helicopter occupants dead. Der Spiegel , April 2, 2009, accessed on August 28, 2013 .
  6. Jump up ↑ Aviation - Scotland mourns dead helicopter occupants. Focus , April 1, 2009, accessed August 28, 2013 .
  7. Divers recover last of helicopter victims. The Scotsman , April 6, 2009, accessed August 28, 2013 .
  8. Gerhard Hegmann: Six Eurocopter employees die on test flight. ftd.de, July 25, 2012, archived from the original on July 27, 2012 ; Retrieved August 6, 2012 .
  9. ^ BFU: Investigation report. Retrieved October 30, 2014 .
  10. Shetland Islands - Several dead in helicopter crash. Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 25, 2013, accessed on August 28, 2013 .
  11. ↑ Oil rig shuttle over the North Sea: helicopter crashes into the sea - four dead. Der Spiegel , August 24, 2013, accessed on August 28, 2013 .
  12. Airbus' "Super Pumas" have to go to the security check. In: orf.at . May 4, 2016, accessed June 3, 2016 .
  13. ^ EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive. European Aviation Safety Agency , May 3, 2016, accessed May 4, 2016 .
  14. Update regarding the crash of a Norwegian Helicopter on April 29, 2016. European Aviation Safety Agency , June 2, 2016, accessed June 2, 2016 .
  15. Air Force on the ground . In: Der Spiegel . No. 33 , 2017 ( online ).
  16. Two dead in an army helicopter crash in Switzerland. In: Spiegel Online. September 28, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016 .