Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reserve, New Mexico 87830
Thursday, December 18, 1997 16:25 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was under contract by the New Mexico Game and Fish Department for the purpose of elk herd evaluation. The right front seat passenger said that they were flying northbound, approximately 180 to 200 feet above the ground, in an attempt to split a heard of elk, for counting purposes. He said that the helicopter was traveling at less than 10 knots, the pilot initiated a turn, and within 3 to 5 seconds, they rotated to the ground. The pilot stated that he thought they were traveling north at approximately 100 feet agl and approximately 30 knots when he initiated the right turn. He further stated that 'once the turn got started, I couldn't stop it, even with full left pedal.' The pilot reported that he believed the wind was from the west at approximately 5 to 10 knots (the density altitude was calculated to be 9,043 feet). He said that when the accident happened, 'I heard nothing unusual nor felt anything.' According to FAA AC 90-95, unanticipated right yaw can be brought about by low airspeeds, high power regimes, left crosswinds or tailwinds, and right turning maneuvers.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent loss of tail rotor effectiveness. A factor was the high density altitude weather condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/18/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1625 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | RESERVE |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87830 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | 1548 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GUP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6469 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 140 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 16000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 9043 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1763 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 19 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N124DA |
| NTSB Number | FTW98TA072 |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B-III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B-III |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2052 |
| 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 | Nov 5 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 51 |
| Airframe Hours | 10200 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MSI HELICOPTERS INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 93306 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87199 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | AERO WEST |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 508 |
| Operator City | CORRALES |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 87048 |
| Operator Code | PBKA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1425 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | 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 | -- |