Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gaston, Oregon 97119
Saturday, September 25, 2010 19:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he completed his last forest spray application for the day and was landing on a trailer used for transporting the helicopter. As the skids touched down on the trailer, he lowered the collective to the full down position. The helicopter abruptly tilted aft on the skid heals, and he applied up collective. The helicopter started to rotate to the right and he was unable to counter the rotation with the left anti-torque pedal. The pilot closed the throttle as the helicopter rotated 180 degrees to the right. The helicopter then contacted the side of the trailer and came to a full stop. The pilot reported that the trailer was parked on an uneven surface and that the slope and his abrupt movement of the collective resulted in the tail rotor coming into contact with the trailer. The pilot also felt that the accident could have been avoided if the trailer were on level terrain and he had waited to lower the collective until after establishing positive and complete skid contact with the surface of the trailer. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain tail rotor clearance while landing on a transport trailer positioned on an uneven surface.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/25/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gaston |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97119 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 452607N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1230813W |
| 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 | 1853 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHIO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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) | 27714 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NWM Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2010 4:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7860S |
| NTSB Number | WPR10CA470 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 47G |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 3B1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 6627 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 7 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8871 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Farm and Forest Helicopter Service, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 404 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Napavin |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98565 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Farm and Forest Helicopter Service, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO Box 404 |
| Operator City | Napavin |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98565 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Gaston |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Gaston |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2010 4:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |