Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lyons, Oregon 97358
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 15:00 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that he was moving Christmas trees during harvesting operations. He said that one of the two slings holding the load failed, and as the trees fell to the ground, the second sling "popped" into his rotor head. The pilot said that both the cyclic and collective were severed, and he lost all flight control. An autorotation was not possible and the helicopter fell to the ground and came to rest on its right side.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A severing of the helicopter's cyclic and collective rods by one of the load lifting slings following the failure of the other sling. A contributing factor was the hard landing due to the fact that an autorotation was not possible.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/22/2006
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1500
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Lyons
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97358
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 444867N
Event Location Longitude 1223538W
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 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 280
Weather Observation Facility ID SLE
Elevation of weather observation facility 214
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 19
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 170
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.81
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) 21179
NTSB Notification Source FAA NW ROC
NTSB Notification Date Nov 22 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 26 2007 9:33AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland, OR

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1611W
NTSB Number SEA07LA022
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model 369E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0319E
Certified Max Gross Weight 3550
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7997
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Menasha Forest Management Services LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1515 Sheridan Ave.
Aircraft Owner City North Bend
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97459
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) External Load
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Lyons
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1455
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Lyons
Destination State OR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Hover - out of ground effect
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2007 1:58PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
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 --