ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 30328
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| Date: | Friday 3 December 1999 |
| Time: | 11:30 LT |
| Type: |  McDonnell Douglas MD 500E (369E) |
| Owner/operator: | Pathfinder Helicopter Inc |
| Registration: | N11KV |
| MSN: | 172E |
| Year of manufacture: | 1986 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2995 hours |
| Engine model: | Allison 250-C20B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Salem, OR -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The helicopter was operating with a 25 foot long-line at the time of the accident. The pilot was returning to pick up another load of Christmas trees, maneuvering at slow speed looking for the hooker, when he heard a loud bang and the aircraft began to spin rapidly. More bangs were heard from the rear of the aircraft as it continued to spin. The pilot rolled the throttle to idle, which did not arrest the spin. The aircraft then entered a nose-low attitude while spinning; the pilot could not get the nose up with full aft cyclic. Just prior to ground impact, the pilot rolled the throttle to full open, which brought the nose up to a near-level attitude. The helicopter impacted the ground level, but sliding to the left into a hillside. Terrain was described as small rolling hillsides with various fields of small to large Christmas trees. FAA inspectors found evidence of white paint transfer on the long-line cable, and also signatures consistent with cable marks on one of the two separated tail rotor blades. Witnesses noted that ground fog was forming in the area at the time of the accident.
Probable Cause: Failure of the pilot to maintain ground clearance, resulting in the long-line snagging and then striking the tail rotor.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB SEA00LA028
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 14-May-2010 22:50 | JINX | Updated [Location, Country, Source, Damage] |
| 26-Jun-2013 02:00 | JINX | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Dec-2017 09:59 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 18-Sep-2019 15:34 | BEAVERSPOTTER | Updated [Cn, Narrative] |
| 07-Apr-2024 16:37 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Cn, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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