Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Camp Verde, Arizona 86322
Thursday, May 25, 1989 16:29 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A BELL HELICOPTER 206B COLLIDED WITH UNMARKED POWER TRANSMISSION CABLES WHILE ON A VFR POSITIONING FLIGHT. THE PILOT HAD FLOWN SEVERAL SCENIC FLIGHTS EARLIER IN THE DAY AND WAS RETURNING TO THE OPERATOR'S FACILITY WHEN THE COLLISION OCCURRED. THE HELICOPTER'S COURSE WAS ON A SOUTHERLY DIRECTION. THE WIRES WERE SUSPENDED ACROSS A TERRAIN FEATURE KNOWN AS A SADDLE. THE SPAN WAS ABOUT ONE MILE BETWEEN THE POLES THAT SUPPORTED THE CABLES. THE POLES WERE MASKED FROM VIEW WHEN APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH BY TERRAIN. THE CABLES WERE ABOUT 100 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL. THE ELEVATION OF THE CABLES WAS 4,140 FEET MEAN SEA LEVEL. THE CABLES WERE DEPICTED ON THE SECTIONAL AERONAUTICAL CHART. THE MAXIMUM ELEVATION FIGURE FOR THE ACCIDENT QUADRANGLE ON THE SECTIONAL CHART WAS 7,200 FEET MSL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ALTITUDE TO CLEAR OBSTRUCTIONS IN HIS FLIGHT PATH AND VISUALLY DETECT OBSTRUCTIONS IN ORDER TO AVERT A COLLISION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/25/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1629 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | CAMP VERDE |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86322 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1651 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 269 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5042 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 34 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 65 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| 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 | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2277 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 26 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42181 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N49608 |
| NTSB Number | LAX89FA203 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1733 |
| 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 | May 2 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 8570 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BELL FORD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2401 W. BELL ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | PHOENIX |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85023 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4855 FALCON DRIVE |
| Operator City | MESA |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85205 |
| Operator Code | IOHA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SEZ |
| Departure City | SEDONA |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FFZ |
| Destination City | MESA |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |