Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Escalante Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Escalante, Utah 84726
Friday, July 23, 2004 14:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had landed the helicopter next to the refueling truck to conduct a "hot refueling." At the end of the refueling, the pilot left the helicopter to assist the ground refueler with the hose. The pilot said he heard an abnormal noise. The helicopter began to vibrate. The pilot went to neutralize the flight controls. The helicopter bounced and knocked the pilot down as he grabbed the controls. The main rotor dipped down striking the refueling truck and causing damage to the helicopter main rotor blades, the tail boom, and the truck cab. The pilot got up and shut the helicopter down. The pilot reported that a gust of wind came up causing the helicopter rotor blade to dip down and strike the truck. An examination of the helicopter showed no anomalies. Approximately 23 minutes after the accident, the Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) for Bryce Canyon, Utah (BCE), 075 degrees at 28 nautical miles from the accident scene, reported winds as 210 degrees at 19 knots with gusts to 27 knots. Approximately 34 minutes prior to the accident, BCE METAR reported a peak wind of 180 degrees at 30 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Factors contributing to the accident were the high winds, the gusts, and the refueling truck.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Escalante |
| Event State | UTAH |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 84726 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 374442N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1113413W |
| Event Location Airport | Escalante Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 17U |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 310 |
| Airport Elevation | 5740 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BCE |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 27 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.28 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7350 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16252 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 26 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 925 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake City, UT FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2758C |
| NTSB Number | DEN04CA111 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206 L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45261 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Airwest Helicopters LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Glendale |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 17U |
| Departure City | Escalante |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2004 12:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| 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 | -- |