Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Duchesne, Utah 84021
Tuesady, July 18, 1989 13:15 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER WAS BEING OPERATED ON A SPECIALIZED POWER LINE PATROL TO CONDUCT 'KORONA MEASURING' FOR A 'LEAKAGE' CHECK OF THE TRANSMISSION LINE. THIS CHECK REQUIRED THAT THE HELICOPTER BE FLOWN AT A CONSTANT ALTITUDE & SPEED, & AT A DISTANCE OF 100' OR LESS FROM THE POWER LINE. WHILE PATROLLING EASTBOUND, THE MAIN ROTOR STRUCK THE NORTH STATIC LINE. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE MAIN ROTOR, SWASH PLATE, & TRANSMISSION/ROTOR MAST SEPARATED & THE HELICOPTER CRASHED. WHEN THE HELICOPTER DID NOT RETURN FROM THE PATROL, A SEARCH WAS ORGANIZED. THE WRECKAGE WAS FOUND THE NEXT DAY AT 1045 MDT. THE PLT & 1 PAX WERE DECEASED, BUT THE OTHER PAX APPEARED TO BE ALIVE; HOWEVER, HE DIED BEFORE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE ARRIVED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE HELICOPTER WAS FOUND. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THIS WAS THE PILOT'S 1ST POWER LINE PATROL. ON HIS APPLICATION FOR RECENT EMPLOYMENT WITH THE COMPANY, HE INDICATED HE HAD OVER 1900 HRS OF FLT TIME; HOWEVER, ONLY 585 HRS OF FLT TIME COULD BE VERIFIED. HE DID NOT RCV MISSION TRAINING FOR THIS FLT.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE FROM THE POWER LINE. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: LACK OF MISSION TRAINING PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY/OPERATOR, THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS TYPE OF OPERATION, HIS LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA, AND THE COMPANY/OPERATOR'S INADEQUATE SUBSTANTIATION PROCESS TO ASSURE THE EXPERIENCE LEVEL OF NEWLY HIRED PILOTS.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/18/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | DUCHESNE |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84021 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 60 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 9200 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1006 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 19 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39168 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1086C |
| NTSB Number | DEN89FA175 |
| 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 | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2996 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 29 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 6103 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MICHAEL ZICKA LEASING CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11264 GROOMS RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CINCINNATI |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45242 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ROCKY MOUNTAIN HELICOPTER |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 800 S 31110 W |
| Operator City | PROVO |
| Operator State | UT |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 84603 |
| Operator Code | DYRA |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVU |
| Departure City | PROVO |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PVU |
| Destination City | PROVO |
| Destination State | UT |
| 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 | -- |