ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 45744
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| Date: | Saturday 22 September 2001 |
| Time: | 20:05 |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350BA |
| Owner/operator: | Enloe FlightCare |
| Registration: | N911NT |
| MSN: | 1556 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1985 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 7786 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca 4386 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Chico, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Enloe Hospital Heliport, CA (CL37) |
| Enloe Hospital Heliport, CA (CL37) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On September 22, 2001, at 2006 Pacific daylight time, an Aerospatiale AS350BA helicopter, N911NT, collided with trees after an aborted landing, and came to rest on its side at a ballpark in Butte Meadows, Chico, California. The helicopter, owned and operated by the Enloe Medical Center, was destroyed in the impact sequence. The commercial pilot was fatally injured; one flight nurse sustained serious injuries; and the other flight nurse was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that had departed the Enloe Medical Center at 1947 as a positioning flight under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 to pickup a traffic accident victim for transport to the hospital. A company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed. The flight was scheduled to terminate at the hospital.
During a steep approach to a confined landing zone, the helicopter encountered a brown out condition due to dust and dirt clouds formed by the rotor downwash, and the helicopter collided with trees during an attempted go-around. After circling the landing area twice the pilot approached the landing zone from the west to the east. Ground witnesses and the onboard flight nurses said the approach was completely normal until the helicopter neared the ground. About 30 feet above the ground there was a dirt/dust condition created from the helicopter's rotor blades and the witnesses lost sight of the helicopter. One flight nurse, who was using night vision goggles to assist the pilot with ensuring that the landing zone was clear, told investigators that as the dust cloud formed their outside vision was completely obscured. The flight nurse asked the pilot if he could see anything, but the pilot did not respond. The medical crew estimated that the pilot started to go around about 15 feet above the ground, and during the go-around the helicopter drifted about 90 feet to the south and impacted trees. Witnesses recalled hearing the engine power up and then heard the helicopter impact trees. During the engine power up and go-around, no problems were heard with the engine. The on board medical crew said that they did not perceive any mechanical difficulties with the helicopter.
Probable Cause: the pilot's inadequate in-flight decision and delay in initiating a go-around during an encounter with brown out conditions, which led to his failure to maintain alignment of the helicopter with the intended go-around flight path and a resulting collision with trees.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20011002X02023&key=1
FAA register: 2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=911NT
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 10-Jul-2014 01:32 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 10-Dec-2017 12:55 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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