Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Deer Island, Oregon 97054
Tuesady, August 7, 2012 7:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 7, 2012, about 0715 Pacific daylight time, a Hiller UH-12D turbine helicopter, N47035, landed hard in a clear-cut forest area on Deer Island, Oregon. The helicopter was owned by Western Helicopter Services, Inc., and operated under contract to the United States Forest Service (USFS), under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. The pilot received minor injuries, and the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, main rotor blades, transmission, and tail boom, which separated during the accident sequence. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight departed from a heliport on private property about 0715, on the morning of the accident.
The pilot reported that he started spraying a herbicide about 0625, and had made six runs with 100 gallons of the herbicide before refueling. He stopped to refuel with 35 gallons of Jet A fuel, and took off about 0715, with the seventh load of the day. He was making a right turn for the next pass when he felt the helicopter shudder. The pilot stated that the helicopter did not “feel right,” and shortly thereafter, he heard a loud “bang!” The helicopter began to shake and he had little to no flight control. The pilot stated that the helicopter was about 45 feet above ground level (agl), and the helicopter was skidding to the right. After the helicopter touched down, it rolled onto it’s right side; the pilot shut down the engine, and turned off the battery master switch.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 715 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Deer Island |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97054 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 455504N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225114W |
| 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 | 2000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 275 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 2 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Western Helicopter Services, I |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2012 2:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N47035 |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA347 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | HILLER |
| Aircraft Model | UH-12D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1074 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 22 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 18069 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WESTERN HELICOPTER SERVICES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEWBERG |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97132-0369 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | WESTERN HELICOPTER SERVICES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | NEWBERG |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97132-0369 |
| 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 | Deer Island |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 715 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Deer Island |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2012 2:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |