Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Loon Lake, Washington 99148
Tuesady, December 17, 2002 21:58 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that when he departed Colville, the weather was mostly clear with a visibility of more than 10 miles. He stated that as the helicopter approached the area around Loon Lake (approximately 30 miles southeast of Colville) they encountered heavy snow showers. The pilot further stated that, "While attempting to slow the helicopter and either turn around or make a precautionary landing on a road (Hwy 395) the helicopter entered a high rate of descent. I ended up making a hard landing on Hwy 395 in pretty much a complete white out." The aviation area forecast (FA) issued at 1945 PST on December 17, valid during the accident time frame, reported widely scattered snow showers East of the Cascades, to include Northeastern Washington. The pilot reported that he obtained a weather briefing via the Data Transmission Network (DTN) prior to the flight from Spokane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) while in cruise flight, and an excessive descent rate. Factors include falling snow, whiteout conditions and dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2158 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Loon Lake |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99148 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 480349N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1173718W |
| 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 | 2153 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KDEW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2210 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13271 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1158 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Spokane, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N311MS |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter Deutschland |
| Aircraft Model | EC-135 P1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0073 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 2450 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | INHS Leasing Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 248 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Spokane |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99210 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Metro Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | Box 7008 |
| Operator City | Shreveport |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 71137 |
| Operator Code | HDNA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Colville |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2145 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Spokane |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 17 2003 3:09PM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |