Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Phoenix, Arizona 85034
Friday, July 27, 2007 12:46 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-09/02.
On July 27, 2007, about 1246 mountain standard time, two electronic news gathering (ENG) helicopters, N613TV and N215TV, collided in midair while maneuvering in Phoenix, Arizona. The Eurocopter AS350B2 helicopters, from local channels 3 and 15, had been covering a police pursuit. N613TV, the channel 3 helicopter, was operated by KTVK-TV, and N215TV, the channel 15 helicopter, was operated by U.S. Helicopters, Inc., under contract to KNXV-TV. Each helicopter had a pilot-reporter and a photographer on board. The occupants on board both helicopters were killed, and the helicopters were destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The helicopters were operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. No flight plans had been filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Both pilots' failure to see and avoid the other helicopter. Contributing to this failure was the pilots' responsibility to perform reporting and visual tracking duties to support their station's ENG operation. Contributing to the accident was the lack of formal procedures for Phoenix-area ENG pilots to follow regarding the conduct of these operations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/27/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1246 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Phoenix |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85034 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332928N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1120403W |
| 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 | 1155 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25142 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 27 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 3 2009 11:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Federal Aviation Administration AAI-100 |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N613TV | N215TV |
| NTSB Number | LAX07MA231A | LAX07MA231B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER | EUROCOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | AS350-B2 | AS350-B2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2883 | 3167 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 | 4961 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2007 12:00AM | Jul 15 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 11810 | 5094.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KTVK TV | US Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- | PO Box 625 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Phoenix | Marshville |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85013 | 28103 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | -- | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- | -- |
| Operator City | -- | -- |
| Operator State | -- | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| 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) | Other Work Use | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SDL | SDL |
| Departure City | Scottsdale | Scottsdale |
| Departure State | AZ | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1232 | 1222 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Destination City | -- | -- |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 17 2009 5:31PM | Feb 17 2009 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ricj | ricj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |