Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Shoshone, Idaho 83358
Tuesady, June 2, 1998 16:10 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Witnesses reported that the helicopter had just released from positioning a fiber optic cable on top of a power pole. An external line is hung over the left landing skid, forward of the front leg, and a shoe is used to cradle the cable to lift and position it in place for permanent attachment. A lineman was on the pole and in the process of permanently attaching the cable to the pole when the pilot maneuvered the helicopter away and behind the lineman about five feet. Another lineman was standing on the left side landing skid and was then going to install vibration dampers on the cable. The lineman on the pole stated that everything was normal when he heard what sounded like a clicking sound or a sound like a card in a spoked wheel. The lineman on the pole stated that he knew that the helicopter was in the wires and saw pieces of the helicopter flying. The lineman ducked down on the pole, and when he looked up again, the helicopter had already gone through the transmission wires and was laying on its right side on the ground. Impact signatures of a cable strike were found on both tailrotor blades. The cable that the helicopter was positioned next to was severed. Further inspection of the severed cable noted that 19 of the 22 strands that make up the fiber optic cable received varying amounts of mechanical damage prior to failure. During the post-crash wreckage documentation and inspection, no evidence was found to indicate a mechanical failure or malfunction.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure to maintain clearance from wires. A transmission wire was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/2/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1610 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | SHOSHONE |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83358 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | 1553 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TWF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4151 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 21 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1231 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 2 1998 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 11 2000 11:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N16031 |
| NTSB Number | SEA98FA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | 369FF |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369FF |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 52FF |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 11 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 42 |
| Airframe Hours | 5350 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HELITRADEWINDS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 32299 S. GOODTIME RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | MOLALLA |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97038 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | WINCO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 32299 S. GOODTIME RD |
| Operator City | MOLALLA |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 97038 |
| Operator Code | IZWL |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GNG |
| Departure City | GOODING |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| 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 | 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 | -- |