Blessing Hospital 11Th St. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Quincy, Illinois 62301
Monday, January 22, 2001 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A hospital security guard walked into the spinning tailrotor. The pilot and a nurse were on board the helicopter preparing for an EMS flight. The medic stayed outside the helicopter to connect the battery cart. The medic stated that the hospital security guards were standing next to him when the helicopter was started. The medic disconnected the battery cart and was closing the battery access panel when he heard a loud noise. When he looked up he noticed that the battery cart was near the tail of the helicopter. He yelled to the pilot to shut down the helicopter. When he circled around the helicopter, he saw one of the security guards lying on the ground near the tail rotor. The guard later succumbed to his injuries. The security guard had received training on how to safely approach a helicopter when the rotors are operating. The guards duties at the time of the accident were to keep unauthorized personnel away from the helicopter when it was operating.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The security guard failed to maintain clearance with the operating tail rotor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/22/2001
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 5
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Quincy
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 62301
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Blessing Hospital 11th St.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 0IS8
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 653
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.39
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries 1
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10483
NTSB Notification Source Quincy Police
NTSB Notification Date Jan 22 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 110
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 21 2002 1:48PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\GIUV
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Springfield, IL FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N61AE
NTSB Number CHI01LA070
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 206L-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 45470
Certified Max Gross Weight 4150
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 AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jan 11 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20.8
Airframe Hours 7115.1
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Air Evac Leasing, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1488 W. 8th Street
Aircraft Owner City West Plains
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 65775
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Air Evac EMS
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Quincy
Departure State IL
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Canton
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Standing - engine(s) operating
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 21 2001 5:46PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight Yes
Medical Flight Medical Emergency