ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 187029
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 December 2002 |
| Time: | 21:58 |
| Type: |  Eurocopter EC 135P1 |
| Owner/operator: | Metro Aviation |
| Registration: | N311MS |
| MSN: | 0073 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1998 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2450 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Loon Lake, WA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Ambulance |
| Departure airport: | Colville, WA |
| Spokane, WA | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot reported that when he departed Colville, the weather was mostly clear with a visibility of more than 10 miles. He stated that as the helicopter approached the area around Loon Lake (approximately 30 miles southeast of Colville) they encountered heavy snow showers. The pilot further stated that, "While attempting to slow the helicopter and either turn around or make a precautionary landing on a road (Hwy 395) the helicopter entered a high rate of descent. I ended up making a hard landing on Hwy 395 in pretty much a complete white out." The aviation area forecast (FA) issued at 1945 PST on December 17, valid during the accident time frame, reported widely scattered snow showers East of the Cascades, to include Northeastern Washington. The pilot reported that he obtained a weather briefing via the Data Transmission Network (DTN) prior to the flight from Spokane.
Probable Cause: The pilot's inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) while in cruise flight, and an excessive descent rate. Factors include falling snow, whiteout conditions and dark night conditions.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20021220X05621&key=1
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-May-2016 10:39 | Aerossurance | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 09-Dec-2017 18:03 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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