Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Willow Creek Helibase Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Willow Creek, California 95573
Tuesady, July 21, 2009 10:10 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was to conduct proficiency rappel training. During a preflight equipment check, one of the rappellers identified a broken "Kong" clip on the Tri-link/J-hook interface on the harness. He replaced the Kong clip with a rubber O-ring (an authorized substitution) and then he returned to the helicopter. Minutes later, with the helicopter in a stabilized hover, witnesses on the ground reported that they observed the rappeller transition from inside the helicopter to the port side skid, then fall down the rope at excessive speed. Postaccident examination of the rope and harness assembly revealed that the rappeller's J-hook was attached to the Sky Genie and rope; however, the J-hook was not attached to the Tri-link and harness. A broken O-ring, believed to be the O-ring used to center the Tri-link and J-hook, was found on the ground approximately 30 feet from where the harness assembly was located. Evidence obtained during the investigation suggests that the rappeller's Tri-link and J-hook were not mechanically linked (prior to the rappeller transitioning to the skid), but rather inadvertently linked together with a non load-bearing O-ring used to center the latching devices. Examination of the J-hook, Sky Genie, Tri-link and harness by investigators from the US Forest Service revealed no evidence of malfunction or defect.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The rappeller's failure to properly latch the rappelling harness to the rappelling assembly before exiting the helicopter.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/21/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1010 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Willow Creek |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95573 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405647N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1233757W |
| Event Location Airport | Willow Creek Helibase |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PVT |
| 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 | Witness |
| 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 | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26607 |
| NTSB Notification Source | US Forest Service |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2010 6:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N212HP |
| NTSB Number | WPR09TA356 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 212 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30951 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11200 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 7 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 9 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 17 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 7829 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SIERRA NEVADA HOLDINGS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 58 AIRPORT RD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST LEBANON |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03784-1656 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | USDA Forest Service |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Washington |
| Operator State | DC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20594 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVT |
| Departure City | Willow Creek |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1004 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PVT |
| Destination City | Willow Creek |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 11 2010 6:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |