Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Covelo, California 95428
Saturday, September 1, 2012 15:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was involved in firefighting operations. The pilot flying was in the left seat, and the senior pilot was in the right seat. The pilot completed numerous water drops on the fire during a 2-hour period. The helicopter was making its second drop in an area of steep terrain, which was about 1,000 feet lower in elevation than the lake the pilots were using for a water source. Due to the smoke, the visibility was about 1/2 mile. All five main rotor blades made contact with a snag (typically the remnants of a tree such as the trunk and/or main branches without most of its foliage), and were substantially damaged; the operator pointed out that the snag was similar in color to the smoke. The senior pilot took control of the helicopter, climbed, and made an uneventful landing near the fill point.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from a tree during an aerial firefighting flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1515 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Covelo |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95428 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394714N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1231535W |
| 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 | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KUKI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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) | 30620 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP Opeerqations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 5 2012 8:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N611CK |
| NTSB Number | WPR12CA387 |
| 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 | CROMAN CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Model | SH-3H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 148966 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 21000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 16082 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CROMAN CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WHITE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97503-1082 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CROMAN CORP |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WHITE CITY |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97503-1082 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | Yes |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Fire Fighting |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | O09 |
| Departure City | Covelo |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1310 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | O09 |
| Destination City | Covelo |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2012 5:15PM |
| 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 | -- |