Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Indianola Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Inverness, Mississippi 38753
Friday, February 23, 2001 13:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter is configured with an external horizontal platform mounted adjacent to the left loading door, between the fuselage and the skids, for use during in-flight transfer of a lineman from aircraft to structure during inspections of high tension transmission line supports. The exact procedures for the in-flight lineman transfer call for the helicopter-to-structure static electricity grounding cable to be clamped to the structure prior to the actual transfer. By design, the ground cable clamping is the very first procedural task and the unclamping is the very last procedural task. When the pilot sees the cable and clamp returned to its holding pouch on the platform, that is his cue to back the helicopter away from the structure. In this particular occurrence, the procedural tasks got out of sequence, and when the pilot saw the ground cable and clamp in its pouch, he backed the rotorcraft away. The lineman, still tethered to the rotorcraft, was pulled off the structure, and the lineman's choice of safety tether attachment point on the rotorcraft gave way under his weight, causing the fatal fall.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The lineman's failure to use the designed attachment point for securing his safety harness to the helicopter, resulting in overload and failure of the component he did attach to. A factor in the accident was the lineman's failure to follow exact sequential procedures for performing the in-flight transfer from rotorcraft to structure, resulting in his being dragged off the structure by the retreating rotorcraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/23/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Inverness |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38753 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Indianola |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IDL |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1350 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 285 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GLH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 131 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10753 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO Miami |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 23 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1715 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 9:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Jackson |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N58377 |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Boeing Helicopters Div. |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1290646D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 9 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 87.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 12683.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Helicopters Atuneros, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1920 Joe Crosson Drive, #8 |
| Aircraft Owner City | El Cajon |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92020 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air #2, LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 12515 N. Kendall Dr. Ste. 120 |
| Operator City | Miami |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33186 |
| Operator Code | X2RL |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | LZ 397 |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2001 3:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PREJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |