Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pitt Meadow, Bc Canada
Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:07 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On January 10, 2008, an American registered Eurocopter AS350 B3, N530NA, experienced a power loss while conducting long line training, using a 100' line with an empty remote hook. The helicopter was hovering with the line near the top of the tree when it descended about ten feet. An attempt was made to pull power back to arrest the decent, the helicopter did not respond and continued to descend slowly. The pilot immediately entered auto-rotation with the helicopter about 200' above ground level (AGL). Upon impact, the aircraft settled about 15 degrees to the right, and the main rotor blades contacted some very small trees. The engine continued running and the rotor RPM was low. The two occupants were not injured. Company maintenance and Turbomeca personnel subsequently extracted stored data from the Engine Electronic Computer Unit (EECU) and Homogenized Metering Unit (HMU) Computer. The components will be removed for further evaluation as a fault code was indicated. This investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada. Further information may be obtained from: Transportation Safety Board of Canada 335-550 Century Street Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3H 0Y1 TSB Air Operations +1-819-994-4252 mailto:airops@tsb.gc.ca This report is for informational purposes only.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/10/2008
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1107
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Pitt Meadow, BC
Event State --
Event Country CANADA
Zipcode of the event site 00000
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source --
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 --
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source Transportation Safety Board of
NTSB Notification Date Jan 15 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 11 2008 11:30PM
User who most recently changed record ntsb\Administrator
Basic weather conditions --
FAA District Office Alaska

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N530NA
NTSB Number DFW08RA039
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Non-U.S., Non-Commercial
Type of Flight Plan filed --
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Eurocopter France
Aircraft Model AS350B3
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name --
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? --
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? --
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
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) External Load
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
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 Feb 11 2008 11:04PM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --