Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waukesha, Wisconsin 53189
Wednesday, December 12, 2001 18:22 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter, while in cruise flight, was destroyed when it impacted a static powerline, a vehicle and terrain . The pilot asked local ATC to fly in controlled airspace and was told to remain outside due to present IFR conditions. Those weather conditions were 1 1/2 statute miles visibility, drizzle, and overcast skies at 400 feet. A witness stated that he "was driving and saw a red light over what seemed like the median a few 100 ft. in the air. The light rose almost straight upward maybe another 200 ft and then began corkscrewing downward." The helicopter is placarded, "THIS ROTOCRAFT APPROVED FOR DAY AND NIGHT VFR [visual flight rules] OPERATIONS." An on-scene investigation revealed no pre-impact anomalies. The fiberglass chin portion of the front right side of the cabin had a linear tear. The right side forward and aft cabin doors had a linear scratch across them. The helicopter color scheme was blue, white, and red. A power line contractor stated, "I inspected the helicopter crash site at I-43, on December 14, 2001. I inspected the static wire span, hands on, and found some plastic and fiberglass shavings. I also found three different color paints, mainly blue, very little yellow and a tiny bit of red. ... The locations of apparent contact points on the shield wire was an area 35 - 40 feet just North of mid-span." A power line employee calculated the wire was about "146' over the roadway." Robinson Safety Notice SN-26 stated, "NIGHT FLIGHT PLUS BAD WEATHER CAN BE DEADLY ... When it is dark, the pilot cannot see wires or the bottom of clouds, nor low hanging scud or fog." A Flight For Life Pilot stated that a request was received for "Aeromedical transport from an accident on [Highway] 164 and [Interstate] -43 by the Waukesha Co. Sheriff's Dept. I determined weather conditions were not acceptable so the flight request was denied."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather and not maintaining altitude/clearance from the static line during cruise flight. Factors were the static wire, the darkness of night, the low ceiling, and the vehicle.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/12/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1822 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Waukesha |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53189 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 430246N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0881422W |
| 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 | 1845 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | UES |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 911 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KUES 122345Z 00000KT 2SM BR OVC006 07/07 A29 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 1 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 1 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13293 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 12 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2215 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 13 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Milwaukee, WI, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7007F |
| NTSB Number | CHI02FA049 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R44 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0508 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Dec 5 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 27.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 2864.4 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wells Fargo Bank Northwest NA Trustee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 79 S. Main Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | WW Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2085 Highway L, Hangar I1 |
| Operator City | East Troy |
| Operator State | WI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 53120 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MWC |
| Departure City | MILWAUKEE |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1810 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 57C |
| Destination City | EAST TROY |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2003 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |