Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nome, Alaska 99762
Sunday, July 11, 2004 14:15 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial helicopter pilot said he landed on a ridge where he had landed several times that day. He said he shut down the engine, and was applying the main rotor brake when a gust of wind lifted the forward blades, which allowed the aft moving blades to strike the tail boom. The pilot said there had been a steady 20 knot wind blowing at the site all day, but there were no problems with wind gusts on the previous landings. The main rotor blades and tail boom were damaged during the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions while the helicopter was standing, which resulted in the coasting main rotor blade contacting the tail boom. A factor associated with the accident was the gusty wind condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1415 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Nome |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99762 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 653228N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1672331W |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 20 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 30 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 16648 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 11 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 3 2004 9:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fairbanks FSDO-01 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-GLHQ |
| NTSB Number | ANC04LA077 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1150D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Prism Helicopters |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Pitt Meadows |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PRISM HELICOPTERS LTD |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P. O. Box 872807 |
| Operator City | Wasilla |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99687 |
| Operator Code | P3HL |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAOM |
| Departure City | Nome |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Nome |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Other |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 12 2004 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |