Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Escalante, Utah 84726
Wednesday, December 14, 2005 14:57 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter was manufactured in France for the French Army Air Force. Thirty years later, it was imported to California and given a Certificate of Airworthiness in the normal category by the Anchorage, Alaska, FAA FSDO. The helicopter was flying under contract for the Bureau of Land Management (Public Use) in southern Utah in support of an eradication of feral cattle program. The pilot said that he touched down on a sloping rock outcrop when the helicopter began to oscillate. The pilot pulled up on the collective and the aircraft "suddenly self-destructed." Five of the occupants exited the helicopter under their own power, however, one had been struck by a rotor blade and remained buckled in his seat unconscious. The ground resonance event separated the transmission/rotor system, the engine from the fuselage, and one main rotor blade impacted the cabin. The pilot said that he had experienced at least two incipient ground resonance events with this helicopter during the previous 18 months. During a post-accident examination, numerous maintenance discrepancies were identified, including: improper tire inflations, improper main landing gear hydraulic shock strut pressures, and differential functioning of the main rotor blade drag dampers. The manufacturer's representative said that all of these items have narrow operational tolerances if ground resonance events are to be avoided. Additionally, the landing surface was a "bowl shaped" rock formation with the right main landing wheel up sloped approximately 5 degrees and the nose wheel 3-5 inches nose low.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate remedial action when ground resonance was encountered during landing. Contributing factors were the rough/uneven terrain and company inadequate maintenance.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/14/2005
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1457
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Escalante
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84726
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 372155N
Event Location Longitude 1111607W
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1456 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 190
Weather Observation Facility ID PGA
Elevation of weather observation facility 4313
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 --
Injury Total None 4
Injury Total Serious 2
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20542
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW ROC
NTSB Notification Date Dec 14 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 31 2006 8:45AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, Utah

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3194K
NTSB Number SEA06TA028
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Public Use
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Aerospatiale
Aircraft Model SA-319B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 2025
Certified Max Gross Weight 4950
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 17
Airframe Hours 5258
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name High Country Helicopters, LLC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1342 S. Panorama Dr.
Aircraft Owner City Cedar City
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84720
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Bureau of Land Management
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 176 E. D.L. Sargent Drive
Operator City Cedar City
Operator State UT
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 84720
Operator Code U8HA
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) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PGA
Departure City Page
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1420
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code NONE
Destination City Escalante
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 16 2006 2:42PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --