Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Park City, Utah 84115
Thursday, December 27, 2001 12:41 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter had been contracted by the State to relocate moose to an area where they would be less hazardous to traffic. After the helicopter herded a moose off a frozen reservoir and back towards the shoreline, the pilot turned and flew into five power lines. The helicopter nosed over, and fell 80 feet in a near-inverted attitude to the surface of the frozen reservoir. It broke through the ice, sank, and then floated back to the surface. A portion of the tail boom remained entangled in the wires. Witnesses said the visibility was 1 mile in fog. An examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate visual lookout, resulting in an inflight collision with powerlines. Contributing factors were the fog and the powerlines.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/27/2001
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1241
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Park City
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84115
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 404505N
Event Location Longitude 1114318W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Witness
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 Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Partial Obscuration
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) -3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 330
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.22
Density Altitude (feet) 7222
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12593
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Dec 27 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1420
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 16 2003 4:27PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, Utah

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N280SP
NTSB Number DEN02GA016
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Public Use
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Hughes
Aircraft Model 369E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0169E
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 18 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8398
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Helicopters by Oz, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 95
Aircraft Owner City Marysvale
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84750
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
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 H80L
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) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code NONE
Departure City Salt Lake City
Departure State UT
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone MST
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 --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 7 2002 12:54PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --