Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dillingham, Alaska 99576
Wednesday, August 20, 1997 20:10 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter departed a mountaintop site, in near zero visibility, with clouds, rain and strong winds. The pilot was attempting to hover down the mountain until clear of the clouds. The passenger seated behind the pilot had his arm out the rear window, holding the pilot's door open as the pilot leaned out to see the ground. The front seat passenger disconnected his shoulder harness prior to departure, so he could wipe fog off the inside of the pilot's windshield. The pilot disconnected his shoulder harness so he could lean out to maintain visual sight of the ground. The helicopter did not have a functioning hot air windshield defogger system. It had a cabin heater, which was not used. The helicopter was airborne about five minutes prior to impacting a ridge. None of the survivors saw the surrounding terrain until just before impact. The pilot was fatally injured, the front seat passenger was seriously injured, and the two rear seat passengers sustained minor injuries. The takeoff site was equipped with a survival shelter, heater, stove and sleeping bags. The passengers would not be reimbursed by their employer for lodging if they stayed in the shelter. They would be reimbursed for hotel accommodations if they flew to town.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's intentional VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Factors associated with the accident are the pilot's failure to activate the cabin heating system, the lack of an operable windshield defogger, the pilot's overconfidence in his ability, pressure induced by the passengers to initiate the flight, and pressure induced by the FAA upon their employees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2010 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | DILLINGHAM |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99576 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 30 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 50 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1526 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 20 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2230 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N18FH |
| NTSB Number | ANC97GA126 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | BH-206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BH-206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2599 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 8232 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EVERGREEN EQUITY, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3850 THREE MILE LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MCMINNVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97128 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EVERGREEN HELICOPTERS ALASKA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1935 MERRILL FIELD DRIVE |
| Operator City | ANCHORAGE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 99501 |
| Operator Code | EHAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | KEMUK MOUNTAIN |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DLG |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| 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 | -- |