Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Missoula, Montana 59808
Friday, June 28, 2013 13:08 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, while making a shallow approach to the water to fill a water bucket in preparation for his fourth water drop, he was looking down at the bucket, and, just as the bucket went into the water, the helicopter began “settling [with power].” The pilot corrected the condition by moving the cyclic right and forward and descending the helicopter, which placed it “back in good air” and then moved the helicopter forward. With the bucket in the water, the pilot pulled the cyclic aft as the line became tight. However, the helicopter’s nose dropped very low instead of rising as expected, and the main rotor struck the tail. The helicopter subsequently started spinning right likely because the main rotor strike had severed the tail rotor drive shaft, and, after two or three turns, the pilot realized that he could not control the helicopter, so he rolled off the throttle, which stopped the spin. The helicopter then descended and contacted the water hard. The pilot determined that he had not taken into account that the river had moved the bucket downstream, and, as a result, the bucket was behind (not directly below) the helicopter, which caused the helicopter’s nose to pitch down when the line became tight. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation, and he stated that the wind was calm at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to prevent the helicopter from settling with power and to maintain proper position relative to an external load, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/28/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1308 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Missoula |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59808 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 465443N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1141107E |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1300 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MSO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3206 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 11 |
| 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) | 30.2 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33152 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional 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 | Jul 5 2014 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | litt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N868H |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA303 |
| 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 | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51318 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4250 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 10 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 |
| Airframe Hours | 6424 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hillcrest Aircraft Company Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lewiston |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83501 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hillcrest Aircraft Company Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lewiston |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 83501 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | External Load |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MSO |
| Departure City | Missoula |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MSO |
| Destination City | Missoula |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 18 2014 5:33PM |
| 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 | -- |