Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eagle Pass, Texas 78852
Thursday, January 12, 2006 16:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 1,672 hour commercial pilot departed the operations base near the border on a routine patrol of the Rio Grande River dividing the two countries. Upon reaching the limits of his search area he reversed course to return to home base. On the return leg he decided to search an area where he had noticed two law enforcement airboats operating north of the port of entry. The pilot reported on the Pilot/Operator Accident Report Form (NTSB Form 6120.1/2), that he recalled seeing two sets of power lines on the outbound leg of his patrol. After crossing the first set of power lines and locating the airboats he began a turn to orbit the boats. The pilot added that when he looked up and saw that he was about to hit the second set of wires, he instinctly initiated a cyclic climb to clear the wires; however, the maneuver was initiated too late and the tail rotor impacted the wires resulting in the separation of the tail rotor gear box, tail rotor assembly, and vertical fin. The pilot managed to keep the helicopter in controlled flight and elected to execute an autorotation to a clearing. The helicopter made a successful autorotation and landed upright in the middle of the river, 853 feet from the point of the wire strike. The helicopter came to rest in about 3 feet of water, and the pilot performed an emergency engine shutdown and egressed through the pilot door with assistance from the crews of the airboats.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the unmarked transmission lines. A factor was the pilot's diverted attention while monitoring ground activity.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/12/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Eagle Pass |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78852 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 284304N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1003623W |
| 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 | 1540 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MMPG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 958 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 16000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20099 |
| NTSB Notification Source | DHS, Customs Border Patrol |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 12 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 10:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N840BP |
| NTSB Number | DFW06TA054 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS350-B2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2035 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 11150 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | United States Border Patrol Air Operations |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9C Butterfield Trail |
| Aircraft Owner City | El Paso |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79906 |
| 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 | 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KDRT |
| Departure City | Del Rio |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 21 2010 1:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gamw |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |