Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ft. Yates, North Dakota 58538
Wednesday, July 9, 2003 7:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter impacted terrain while maneuvering for aerial application. The pilot reported he was making a "wide swing" to the left while descending. He stated the helicopter entered what he believed to be a "settling with power situation by [his] rotor wash." The pilot said he attempted to recover by dropping the collective and pushing forward on the stick. He reported he was too close to the ground to complete the recovery, so he flared to reduce his airspeed and the helicopter impacted the terrain. The spray boom caught the potato crop and the skids were caught in the wet ground. The helicopter nosed forward and rolled to the right, coming to a rest on its right side.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadvertent settling with power and unsuccessful remedial action by the pilot. A factor to the accident was the potato crop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 745 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ft. Yates |
| Event State | NORTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 58538 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 460359N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1003805W |
| 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 | 1633 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 852 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MBG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1715 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dawn |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2672 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMBG 091155Z AUTO 19006KT 10SM OVC028 17/15 |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14837 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Fargo FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9080T |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA204 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Continental Copters |
| Aircraft Model | MK6B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CCI-76-4 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2850 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 24 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 58 |
| Airframe Hours | 8629 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael A. Larson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 42208 County 80 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Perham |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56573 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | L22G |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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 | Ft. Yates |
| Departure State | ND |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 16 2003 9:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |