Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Taos, New Mexico 87571
Saturday, November 23, 1996 14:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the public use helicopter search and rescue mission to locate and recover a deceased victim from the bottom of a canyon (650 feet deep). Winds from the west at 5 to 10 mph and throughout the day several trips were conducted into the canyon. Upon receiving notification of the location and preparedness to remove the victim, the pilot flew the helicopter to the canyon and hovered the helicopter with a portion of the left skid on a boulder. The rescue team loaded the litter into the cabin on the left side of the helicopter. As the litter was being secured and one of the rescue team members was climbing on board, 'a gust of wind caused the helicopter to yaw to the right.' As the pilot 'attempted to regain directional control, the skid started to slip on the rock, the tail pitched downward, and the vertical fin and tail rotor struck a rock.' The pilot secured the engines and set the helicopter down, straddling a boulder.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control. A factor was terrain induced turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/23/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | TAOS |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87571 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1594 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 25 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N606SP |
| NTSB Number | FTW97TA046 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS-355-F1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS-355-F1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5230 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5291 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 62 |
| Airframe Hours | 4006 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STATE OF NEW MEXICO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. BOX 1628 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA FE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87504 |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SAF |
| Departure City | SANTA FE |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1405 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |