Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Plains, Montana 59859
Thursday, May 30, 2002 17:20 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
In a written report, the commercial pilot stated that he was flying sideways downhill with an external load on a long line. He approached the log landing area in a turn and attempted to set the load down, however the helicopter, "seemed to keep going." The helicopter began to lose altitude. To compensate, the pilot lowered the collective, and increased the throttle. The aircraft did not respond to the pilot's actions. However, a subsequent maneuver to avoid colliding with a loader was successful. The pilot stated that he remembered, "putting the ship down easy." The pilot then related that the helicopter suddenly "lifted over to the left and next I was undoing my seatbelt and climbing out of the pilot window." A witness to the accident reported that she could see the helicopter steadily lose altitude from a few hundred feet in the air. She then related that she heard the engine quit, followed by the sound of impact a few seconds later. Post-accident examination of the engine, and subsequent engine run, revealed no evidence to indicate a mechanical malfunction or failure with the engine or related engine components.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Power loss for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/30/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Plains |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59859 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 472837N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1145903W |
| 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 | 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 | Day |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12871 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-REGIONAL OPERATIONS |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 30 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1630 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2003 8:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena, Montana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N94475 |
| NTSB Number | SEA02FA091 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Sikorsky |
| Aircraft Model | CH-19E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 130141 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7900 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 31 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5537 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tri Corp |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 820 Highland Ave |
| Aircraft Owner City | Clarkston |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99403 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | 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 | 264K |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Plains |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Plains |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2002 1:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |