Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Savannah, Tennessee 38372
Tuesady, February 3, 1998 8:50 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Helicopter (hel) was being used to string rope/wires with chief pilot (PIC) in left front seat, copilot in right front seat, & 2 observers behind pilots on either side. Witnesses observed hel approach 150' tall pole with a workman at the top. Workman was to connect a rope to a 17' line from the hel which had 600 lbs of weights attached. Foreman in charge of ground operations was observing on ground between his vehicle & the pole. He was not in radio contact with pilots, although vehicle was radio equipped. Witnesses saw hel approach workman & pole from above with hel's nose facing northwest. Wind was from 110 deg at 9 gusting 19 kts. Observers were watching from sides of hel; right observer was providing suggested flight directions for the copilot, who was on the controls. Hel came to a high hover over the pole; workman attempted to attach the rope. Witnesses said hel descended as it drifted left & forward of pole & workman, then it began to back up & climb. Rotor blades struck pole & workman. Hel then rolled right, descended, & impacted ground on its right side. The hook system that was normally used for this type of operation was on another hel & was not available for this mission. Instead, a 'U' shaped swivel hook with a bolt & nut arrangement was used. The normal hook system would have allowed the workman to quickly hook the rope to the hel within seconds. Video tape showed hel hovering above workman & pole for 1-1/4 min until tape stopped (just before accident). Operation Manual required 2-way radio communication between pilot & ground crew (unless otherwise authorized by Manager of Aviation Services). There was no communication between pilot & ground crew from time hel was overhead until accident occurred.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the flight crew to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance from the pole and workman. Related factors were: the gusty wind condition, inadequate communication/coordination between the flight crew and ground personnel, and an improper external system for this type of operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/3/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 850 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | SAVANNAH |
| Event State | TENNESSEE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38372 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| 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 | 840 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 473 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 1 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 342 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 3 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N30TV |
| NTSB Number | MIA98GA069 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 73-21853 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9650 |
| 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 | 13 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 18 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 5331 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | AVIATION SERVICES |
| Aircraft Owner City | MUSCLE SHOALS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35662 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MSC |
| Departure City | MUSCLE SHOALS |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 630 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |