Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Monday, September 26, 2011 12:30 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter pilot was landing at a remote off-airport site, located on an outcrop on the side of a steep slope. The pilot reported that after landing, he initiated the shutdown checklist, including a 2-minute cool down. About 1.5 minutes later, the pilot noticed a strong upslope wind, and the helicopter turned to the right. The pilot attempted to offset the turn with left pedal, but at low rpm, the pedal had no effect. The helicopter lifted off the ground about 3 to 5 feet in a slightly nose-high attitude and simultaneously rolled to the left. The pilot attempted to offset the roll with right cyclic input with no effect. The helicopter continued to lift and roll to the left until the main rotor blades impacted the ground. The helicopter came to rest on its left side.
The National Weather Service forecast included surface wind of 35 to 45 knots. Upslope wind conditions developed due to the terrain features and created a situation that the pilot was unable to overcome when the helicopter was at ground idle. Although the pilot checked current and forecast weather before departure, he was unaware that the forecast wind would have such an effect because of a lack of manufacturer data regarding the effect of upslope wind on an idle helicopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Upslope wind conditions while the helicopter was operating at ground idle, which resulted in the helicopter rollover. Contributing to the accident was the lack of manufacturer data regarding the effect of upslope wind conditions on helicopter ground idle operations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/26/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Juneau |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99801 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 584202N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1345107W |
| 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 | 1053 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 340 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAJN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 21 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31393 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 2 2013 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coln |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N230CH |
| NTSB Number | ANC11LA108 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | AS 350 BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2734 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4630 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 10 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 15904 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | COASTAL HELICOPTERS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | JUNEAU |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99801 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | COASTAL HELICOPTERS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | JUNEAU |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99801 |
| Operator Code | XCHA |
| 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 | XCHA714S |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAJN |
| Departure City | Juneau |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Juneau |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 13 2013 12:15PM |
| 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 | -- |