Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Montour, Idaho 83617
Tuesady, April 27, 2004 15:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot participated in a photo shoot earlier in the morning before landing and being refueled by company ground support personnel. Communication with the departing helicopter was maintained with ground support personnel until it went around a hill and out of sight. The aircraft was subsequently reported missing and located later in the day, partially submerged in a river located approximately 1 mile northwest of the departure point. There were no witnesses to the accident. An examination of the accident site revealed extensive damage to the helicopter due to impact forces with the water. The tail rotor, tail rotor drive shaft, and a major portion of the empennage and the fuel tanks were missing and never recovered. The engine and accessories were separated from the helicopter's airframe structure. The main rotor mast was free to turn and remained connected to the gearbox. Control continuity could not be determined due to the extensive damage to the helicopter. A small metal arm welded to the tail rotor pedal control torque tube was broken off. An examination of the rudder pedal assembly by the NTSB Materials Laboratory revealed that the fracture surface patterns were consistent with a bending overstress separation. It could not be determined whether the overstress condition was the result of a precrash or postcrash event. The pilot's helmet, equipped with a video recording device, was not recoverd during the postcrash recovery.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
In flight collision with terrain for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/27/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Montour |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83617 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435554N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1162123W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 165 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BOI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2871 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4562 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16797 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 27 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2004 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Boise, Idaho |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3275Q |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA074 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schramm |
| Aircraft Model | Helicycle |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | HC001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 850 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 175 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Buford J. Schramm |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Caldwell |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83605 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Montour |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1406 |
| 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 | Sep 30 2004 3:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |