Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Panamint Spring, California 93555
Thursday, December 30, 2004 11:43 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter's main rotor blades impacted a mountainside while the pilot's right rear seated cameraman was filming an automobile for a television commercial. During the impact sequence, the tips of the main rotor blades were severed, and then the helicopter crashed onto the underlying state highway. Blade tip fragments were found on the mountainside, about 246 feet from where the main wreckage came to rest against the highway's guardrail. The pilot indicated that while following the film director's requested route he maneuvered at a low altitude over the two-lane highway that was bordered on one side by a drop-off and a rising cliff like face on the other side. While proceeding in an easterly direction, the road curved to the south with the upsloping mountain side located adjacent to the south side of the road. The cameraman's video camera was recovered from the wreckage, and the Safety Board's Vehicle Recorder Division in Washington, D.C. extracted the videotape. The audio and video images clearly showed the helicopter's maneuvering during the seconds leading up to and including the accident, in addition to the pilot's broadcast instructions to the car's driver to proceed "faster if you can." The pilot was flying from the right seat and the helicopter was about 20 feet above the highway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's misjudged lateral distance from a mountainside and failure to maintain an adequate clearance from terrain and obstacles while performing a low altitude filming maneuver.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/30/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1143
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Panamint Spring
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93555
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 362044N
Event Location Longitude 1173016W
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 1056 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 179
Weather Observation Facility ID NID
Elevation of weather observation facility 2283
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 40
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 18000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 65
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.38
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 2
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21969
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 30 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1216
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2007 12:22PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Las Vegas, Nevada

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N410JC
NTSB Number LAX05FA056
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 Eurocopter France
Aircraft Model AS350BA
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2130
Certified Max Gross Weight 4630
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 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2547
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jet Copters, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16233 Vanowen Street
Aircraft Owner City Van Nuys
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91406
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 KVNA
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Panamint Spring
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1100
Departure Time Zone PST
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? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 23 2007 6:11PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
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 --