Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Canberra American Samoa
Monday, January 13, 2003 14:00
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On January 13, 2003, a Bell 206B3, VH-AZH, operated by Heli-Muster, crashed in water at a base of a dam near Canberra. The helicopter sunk in approximately 30 meters of water and was later recovered. The pilot was reportedly seriously injured and the helicopter reportedly sustained substantial damage. The helicopter was being operated in daylight, visual meteorological conditions, under the authority of the Civil Aviation Authority, Australia.
Reportedly, the helicopter was being operated on a firefighting mission, and the pilot (sole occupant on board) had positioned the helicopter and taken on a load of water, it then crashed at the base of a nearby dam.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau contacted Rolls Royce engine company, Indianapolis, Indiana, and an investigator departed to Canberra to assist investigator-in-charge. For further information, please contact:
Mr. Stewart Ross
Senior Transport Safety Investigator
Australian Transport Safety Bureau for the Director
tel. (02) 6274 6413 / fax (02) 6247 1290
US Accredited Advisor:
Thomas R. Conroy
Air Safety Investigator
Office of Aviation Safety
General Aviation and Regional Operations Division, AS-20
Washington, DC 20594
(202) 314-6314
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/13/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Canberra |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | AMERICAN SAMOA |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | ATSB, Australia |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2003 12:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOND |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | AAI-100 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | WAS03WA007 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B3 |
| 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 | Lot 1 Sparks Road |
| Operator City | Warnervale NSW |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | AU |
| Operator Zip code | 2259 |
| Operator Code | 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Canberra |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | AS |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Canberra |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | AS |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2003 12:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOND |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |