Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ramada Helipad Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86434
Thursday, August 27, 2009 8:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that six fare-paying passengers exited from the helicopter upon landing at the designated helipad adjacent to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Thereafter, the pilot restarted the helicopter to pick up another load of passengers at the top of the canyon. Boulders had been situated around the perimeter of the helipad by the operator to assist in marking its location. The pilot stated that seconds after becoming airborne, and as he was maneuvering during a left clearing turn to depart the area, the helicopter's tail rotor impacted a perimeter boulder. The helicopter pitched nose down and began to violently shudder, vibrate, and oscillate right and left. The pilot immediately descended from a hover and landed with the helicopter remaining upright. The helicopter sustained damage to its tail rotor blades, a hole in the tail boom, drive shaft damage, and associated damage to the 90-degree gearbox.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a boulder during a low-altitude takeoff turn.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/27/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 845 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Grand Canyon |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86434 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355942N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1134653W |
| Event Location Airport | Ramada Helipad |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1237 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 175 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| 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) | 26998 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2010 4:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N705LV |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA420 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AEROSPATIALE |
| Aircraft Model | AS350 B2 Ecureuil |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1878 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 27 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 |
| Airframe Hours | 13329 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LAS VEGAS HELICOPTERS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 907 WALNUT DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOULDER CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89005-2134 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | LAS VEGAS HELICOPTERS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 907 WALNUT DR |
| Operator City | BOULDER CITY |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89005-2134 |
| Operator Code | LV6A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Grand Canyon |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1G4 |
| Destination City | Peach Springs |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2010 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |