Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic City, Wyoming 82520
Monday, August 23, 2004 15:05 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, he was engaged in a filming operation. He had completed a "high groundspeed" pass and was slowing to approximately "20 mph" into the wind. At approximately 75 feet above the ground, and an airspeed of approximately 60 knots, the pilot continued to maneuver the helicopter around the leeward side of a small hill. During the maneuver, the helicopter encountered a sudden wind shear and a "15 to 20 knot tailwind." The pilot stated that the helicopter lost all response to control inputs, and he was unable to maintain altitude. The helicopter descended, struck the terrain and rolled over. The impact crushed the forward fuselage, separated the main rotor assembly, and buckled the tail boom.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's inability to maintain aircraft control, improper in-flight planning and decision making, and failure to compensate for wind conditions, resulting in collision with terrain. Contributing factors were the intentional low-level maneuver, and the wind shear conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Atlantic City |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82520 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422623N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1083837W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KLND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5586 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| 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) | 18 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7339 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17138 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1535 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Casper FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2751U |
| NTSB Number | DEN04LA130 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2689 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2425 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 2 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 68.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 11866 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hawkins and Powers Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 391 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greybull |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82426 |
| 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 | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | Yes |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LND |
| Departure City | Atlantic City |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1415 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LND |
| Destination City | Atlantic City |
| Destination State | WY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |