Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pikes Peak, Colorado 00000
Friday, September 17, 2010 6:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was operating his dual turbine-engine helicopter near a mountain in an effort to film an automobile driving on a road below. The pilot stated that he had operated around this particular mountain several times a year over the past 24 years and had established a flight profile which minimized the associated risks. One sharp turn in the road near the peak required the pilot to fly outbound from the mountain and make a gentle 180-degree turn back to film the automobile. When the pilot flew outbound from the mountain the flying conditions were normal. However, after turning 180 degrees and on the inbound leg towards the mountain, the helicopter encountered a downdraft and was pushed toward the rising terrain. Helicopter performance at that altitude did not provide the pilot with a power margin great enough to arrest the descent. The pilot elected to perform a landing to the road rather than risk a turn down the rocky mountain slope. The helicopter subsequently touched down hard and rolled over, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The helicopter's encounter with an unexpected downdraft, which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/17/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 630 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pikes Peak |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385015N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050235W |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 60 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27780 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2011 6:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5802W |
| NTSB Number | CEN10CA545 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AEROSPATIALE |
| Aircraft Model | AS 355F1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5221 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5291 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JBD ENTERPRISES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 800 US BANK CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner City | EUGENE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97401 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIRCAM NATIONAL HELICOPTER SERVICES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 12951 EAST CONTROL TOWER RD |
| Operator City | ENGLEWOOD |
| Operator State | CO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80112 |
| Operator Code | VMIA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | VMIA360T |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Basecamp LZ |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Basecamp LZ |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2011 6:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |