Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Duchesne, Utah 84020
Saturday, July 30, 1994 18:50 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
WHILE RETURNING TO SALT LAKE CITY FROM THE SOUTHEAST, THE PILOT REPORTED SEEING THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA. AT ABOUT 1843 MDT, THE HELICOPTER CHANGED COURSE AND PROCEEDED OVER MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN WITH A MODE C ALTITUDE READOUT OF 9600 TO 9800 FEET MSL. THE TERRAIN ELEVATION ALONG THE FLIGHT PATH CHANGED FROM 7700 TO ABOUT 10,000 FEET. SHORTLY AFTER PASSING OVER TERRAIN NEAR 10,000 FEET, THE PILOT RADIOED A MAYDAY AND DECLARED THAT THE ENGINE WAS LOSING POWER. THE HELICOPTER BEGAN A DESCENT, ROUGHLY FOLLOWING A CANYON DRAINAGE AREA. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT CRASHED AT AN ELEVATION OF APPROXIMATELY 8850 FEET AFTER IMPACTING TREES. THE LONGITUDINAL WRECKAGE DISTRIBUTION WAS MINIMAL, INDICATING SLOW FORWARD VELOCITY AT TREE IMPACT. AN EXAM OF THE ENGINE REVEALED EVIDENCE OF POWER PRODUCTION DURING IMPACT; NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 12,000 FEET, AND THE HELICOPTER'S GROSS WEIGHT AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 1977 POUNDS. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION SHOWED THAT WITH THESE CONDITIONS, THE HELICOPTER WOULD HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO MAINTAIN A HOVER OUT OF GROUND EFFECT. THE ROTOR BLADES SHOWED ROTATIONAL ENERGY IMPACT SIGNATURES.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION AND FAILURE TO MAINTAIN SUFFICIENT ALTITUDE/CLEARANCE FROM THE SURROUNDING TERRAIN. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA (REQUIRING THE PILOT TO DEVIATE FROM THE DESIRED COURSE), HIGH MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, AND HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE,
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1850 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | DUCHESNE |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84020 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1854 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 268 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PVU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4491 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 36 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 12000 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1991 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 31 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 524 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Unknown |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N12UT |
| NTSB Number | SEA94GA203 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | HUGHES |
| Aircraft Model | OH-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | OH-6A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 65-12953 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 2549 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UTAH DEPT OF PUBLIC SAFETY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4501 SOUTH 2700 WEST |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84119 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SLC |
| Departure City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1726 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |