Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Boise, Idaho 83701
Sunday, January 7, 2007 11:45 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After completing two local deer herding flights, the pilot landed the helicopter and waited about five minutes for the ground crew to be ready for him to start another herding flight. At the beginning of the third flight, he lifted off into a hover, and then performed a pedal-turn into the wind prior to entering translational lift. During the turn, the snow pad on one of the helicopter's skids caught in some tall brush, resulting in a dynamic rollover into the terrain. According to the pilot, there was no problem with the helicopter's flight controls, but he simply failed to see that there was tall brush ( approximately six feet high) behind and to the right of the aircraft.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from tall brush during a low-hover pedal turn. A factor was the six foot-tall brush located adjacent to the area where the pilot was operating.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/7/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1145
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Boise
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83701
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 433532N
Event Location Longitude 1160332W
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 Pilot
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 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Partial Obscuration
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) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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) 21326
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jan 7 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2007 2:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1882
NTSB Number SEA07LA043
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 Bell
Aircraft Model 206B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3960
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
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 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 8074
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Allen Noble Farms
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Boise
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83701
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Idaho Helicopters
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Boise
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 83701
Operator Code --
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 --
Departure City Boise
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1145
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 Hover - in ground effect
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2007 5:35PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --