ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 238837
Last updated: 1 January 2021
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | 29-JUL-2020 |
| Time: | 17:00 UTC |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350B3e Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Rainier Heli International Inc. |
| Registration: | N755AE |
| C/n / msn: | 7763 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Pioche, Lincoln County, NV -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Cedar City Airport, UT (CDC/KCDC) |
| Pioche, NV | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
On July 29, 2020, about 1000 Pacific daylight time, an American Eurocopter Corp. AS350B3 helicopter, N755AE, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Pioche, Nevada. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 positioning flight.
A witness reported dropping off the pilot and passenger at the helicopter and noticed that the long line was laid out and attached to the belly of the helicopter.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors, who responded to the site, the helicopter was on its right side in mountainous densely forested desert terrain at an elevation of 6,741 ft mean sea level (MSL). (See Figure 1). The steel long line cable impacted the main rotor blades and was also entangled in the separated tail rotor. The tail rotor with one blade attached was 21 ft. from the main wreckage. Approximately 30 ft. of long line and one tail rotor blade were not located. The vertical stabilizer was 365 ft. from the main wreckage.
The helicopter was recovered to a secure facility for further examination.
Sources:
http://wirelessestimator.com/articles/2020/helicopter-cell-site-project-crash-kills-pilot-and-passenger/
https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:95:::NO::P95_EVENT_LCL_DATE,P95_LOC_CITY_NAME,P95_REGIST_NBR:29-JUL-20,PIOCHE,N755AE
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=755AE
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N755AE
https://www.radarbox.com/data/registration/N755AE/1382378458
https://www.helis.com/database/cn/52548/
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Jul-2020 14:33 | HeliHub | Added |
| 30-Jul-2020 14:54 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 30-Jul-2020 19:31 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
| 30-Jul-2020 19:59 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Phase, Narrative] |
| 30-Jul-2020 22:30 | Geno | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source] |
| 16-Aug-2020 22:10 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Nature, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 22-Nov-2020 08:26 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description