ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 169450
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| Date: | Monday 24 May 2004 |
| Time: | 20:30 |
| Type: |  Bell 212HP |
| Owner/operator: | Era Aviation, opb U.S. Forest Service |
| Registration: | N362EH |
| MSN: | 30853 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1976 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 11309 hours |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney PT6T-3B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Chester, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | Chester, CA (O05) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter's main rotor blade made contact with the upper wire cutter device during an attempted landing on a sloped landing zone. Upon arriving at the landing zone, the pilot selected an area to land clear from other aircraft and began the descent toward rough terrain with a slope of about 8 to 9 degrees. As the helicopter settled onto the skids, the nose pitched upward and the helicopter slid backward. The pilot quickly increased the collective and moved the cyclic forward in an effort to reestablish the hover. The helicopter began to stabilize in the hover and the pilot felt a shudder and heard a corresponding thump sound. The pilot landed in a different area and noted that it appeared that a portion of the skid had dug into the terrain. A main rotor blade had impacted the upper wire cutter device, leaving the blade damaged beyond repair. The owner reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter.
Probable Cause: the pilot's excessive use of the cyclic and collective controls in response to the helicopter's unexpected rocking motion, which led to a main rotor contact with the upper wire cutter mounted on the cabin roof. A factor in the accident was the rough, sloping nature of the landing zone chosen for the firebase.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20040723X01054&key=1
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Sep-2014 11:19 | Aerossurance | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 07-Dec-2017 17:58 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-May-2022 08:37 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 12-Nov-2022 02:48 | Ron Averes | Updated [Operator] |
| 29-May-2023 22:08 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Operator]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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