Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Baptist Medical Center Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Antonio, Texas 78215
Sunday, May 23, 2004 16:05 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to takeoff, the helicopter was parked facing the northwest. While in a hover and executing a right pedal turn to align into the wind, the helicopter's tail rotor struck a parked helicopter's main rotor blade. The airborne helicopter entered into right yaw, and the pilot reduced collective and throttles. Subsequently, the helicopter landed hard onto the helipad. At the time of the accident, the wind was reported from 170 degrees at 14 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with the parked helicopter while performing a hovering turn.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1605 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | San Antonio |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78215 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 292558N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0982932W |
| Event Location Airport | Baptist Medical Center |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 09XS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 710 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 809 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16078 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 23 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N555BA |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA133 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 412 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 36015 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11900 |
| 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 | 9 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 21 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11646 |
| Airframe Hours | 11663 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bexar County Hospital District |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4503 Medical Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Antonio |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78229 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Air Methods Corp. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 7301 S. Peoria St. |
| Operator City | Englewood |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80112 |
| Operator Code | QMLA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 09XS |
| Departure City | San Antonio |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1605 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BAZ |
| Destination City | New Braunfels |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2004 2:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |