Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Idaho City, Idaho 83631
Sunday, November 29, 1998 17:56 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The McDonnell Douglas MD-900 medevac helicopter was dispatched to a car accident at a site characterized by high terrain and high trees. Prior to landing, the pilot requested information about wires and was advised by ground personnel that 'there were none.' Subsequent to landing, the pilot examined the landing site and proposed departure route for wires, and reportedly observed none. The departure from the site was conducted under dusk to dark night conditions. While climbing out vertically due to the narrow canyon conditions at the site, the helicopter struck unmarked transmission lines approximately 150 feet above ground. The pilot then determined that the helicopter was controllable and displayed no unusual flight characteristics, and chose to proceed to his destination. Post-flight examination revealed crazing of the windscreen and damage to four of the five main rotor blades requiring major repair/replacement.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command's not obtaining/maintaining clearance with the unmarked transmission lines. Contributing factors were environmental (dusk) conditions, the transmission lines, and both the pilot-in-command and the ground personnel not identifying the existence of the hazardous condition (high wires).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1756 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | IDAHO CITY |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83631 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1856 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BOI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2868 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| 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) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1511 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 30 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 901 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N977LF |
| NTSB Number | SEA99LA016 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | MD-900 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | MD-900 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 900-00027 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6250 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 16 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 1752 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ALVAC, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 1582 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOISE |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83701 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | IDAHO HELICOPTERS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2471 COMMERCE AVENUE |
| Operator City | BOISE |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 83705 |
| Operator Code | GAKA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1756 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | U56 |
| Destination City | BOISE |
| Destination State | ID |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 11:29AM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Medical Flight | Medical Emergency |