Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Peach Springs, Arizona 86434
Monday, May 2, 2005 9:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter descended to ground impact following an interruption of power while performing a long line sling load operation. The purpose of the flight was to sling load fuel cans from a landing strip that is located on the rim of the Grand Canyon to the canyon floor directly below to refuel the tour boats operating on the Colorado River. The accident flight was the first flight of the day. The pilot utilized a 50-foot-long line and a net to transfer 15 fuel cans down to the canyon floor. The pilot said that when he picked up the load at the top of the canyon (elevation 4,800 feet msl) he performed a power check and the torque required was 75 percent for an out of ground effect hover. After stabilizing the load he began a descent to the canyon floor below (at an elevation of 1,300 feet msl) and was at a descent rate of about 50 feet per minute as he neared the ground. The wind conditions were reported by witnesses and the pilot as being calm, or nearly so. His head was outside the cockpit watching the ground crew, when he heard a tone, and then heard a series of three low frequency popping noises. The pilot said he was unsure if the popping sounds were coming from the engine or from the main rotor blades The helicopter then began to settle toward the ground and descended to a hard impact into desert scrub brush. The pilot said he closed the throttle after hearing popping noises and entered an autorotation. Witnesses to the accident reported that the approach was a controlled approach, and there was no sway or other unusual movement in the load. As a ground crewmember reached for the load, about 5 feet above the ground, he saw the helicopter sink down and impact the scrub brush and the ground. The witness did not perceive any unusual popping sounds preceding the descent and impact. The Rolls-Royce 250-C30P engine was removed from the airframe shipped to a repair facility with a test cell. There were no significant irregularities noted in the engine test cell runs that were conducted. Both the power turbine governor and gas producer fuel control were tested at the manufacturer's facilities and there were no conditions identified that would have prevented normal operation of either unit.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a loss of power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/2/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Peach Springs |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86434 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355900N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1134600W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| 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) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21539 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 2 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1615 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAS-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3895D |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA155 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45590 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 21505 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Monarch Enterprises, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 12515 Willows Rd. NE Suite 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kirkland |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98034 |
| 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 | PG9A |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 1G4 |
| Departure City | Peach Srpings |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 940 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 | May 12 2007 2:28PM |
| 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 | -- |