Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Prince George Canada
Thursday, July 25, 2002 10:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On July 25, 2002, approximately 10:30 Pacific daylight time, a Bell 206B rotorcraft, N59584, registered to/operated by Croman Corporation, and being flown by a commercial pilot sustained substantial damage when the rotorcraft's tail rotor contacted a fueling truck while hovering to land approximately 35 nautical miles southeast of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. The pilot was uninjured and there was no fire or ground injuries. Meteorological conditions at the accident site were not reported and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was engaged in heli-logging, was operated under 14 (US) CFR 133, and originated from the fueling site where the accident occurred. TheTransportation Safety Board of Canada issued a preliminary notification of the accident and reported that the rotorcraft was returning from a logging operation to refuel and had just dropped the long-line while in a 45-foot hover. The pilot then maneuvered the rotorcraft toward the landing site and while hovering the rotorcraft shifted backward about 15 feet. The pilot heard and felt a "buzzing" and attempted to pull up but the rotorcraft began to rotate. The pilot then lowered collective and executed a hard landing. Post-crash examination revealed the tail rotor had impacted a refueling truck. This report is for information purposes only. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada. Any further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from: Transportation Safety Board of Canada Damien Lawson, Investigator in charge #4-3071 Number Five Road Richmond, BC V6X2T4

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/25/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Prince George
Event State --
Event Country CANADA
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 553300N
Event Location Longitude 1214600W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KYXS
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height 7700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 45
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 10
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.02
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source TSB (Canada)
NTSB Notification Date Aug 15 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1338
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 20 2002 1:29PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Basic weather conditions --
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N59584
NTSB Number SEA02WA157
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 --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 206B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Helicopter
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name --
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? --
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? --
Operator Street Address 801 Avenue C
Operator City White City
Operator State OR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 97503
Operator Code JYEL
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Prince George
Departure State --
Departure Country CA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Prince George
Destination State --
Destination Country CA
Specific Phase of Flight Hover - in ground effect
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 20 2002 1:29PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --