Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mount Charleston, Nevada 89124
Monday, July 22, 2013 22:20 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 22, 2013, about 2220 Pacific daylight time (PDT), a rescue officer fell from a Bell HH-1H, N233JP, during a rescue hoist operation near Mount Charleston, Nevada. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department operated the helicopter as a public-use search and rescue operation under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The flight crew consisted of two commercial pilots and three crewmen, a crew chief, a hoist operator, and a rescue officer. The rescue officer was fatally injured, the rescued passenger and four crewmembers were uninjured; the helicopter sustained no damage. The local public-use flight departed North Las Vegas, Nevada, about 2150. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The operator reported that during a night time rescue operation, while hoisting a civilian hiker and a rescue officer off the side of a mountain, the rescue officer fell to his death. The civilian hiker was recovered to the helicopter by use of the helicopter hoist without injury.
The helicopter was equipped with a Lucas Aerospace Cargo System, part number- 527KES, a Goodrich Corporation boom assembly part number- 82402ASSY42305-300, and a Goodrich Corporation winch assembly, part number- 00462ASSY42305-103. Postaccident examination of the assembly and harness revealed no abnormalities.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2220 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Mount Charleston |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89124 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361642N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1154015W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| 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 | 2153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2205 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| 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) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | 9:56 PM 91.9 °F 91.2 °F 59.0 °F 33% 29.78 in 1 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Las Vegas Metro Police Departm |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2013 3:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N233JP |
| NTSB Number | WPR13GA338 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | HH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 70-2478 |
| 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 | 15 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NORTH LAS VEGAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89032-4303 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | NORTH LAS VEGAS |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89032-4303 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VGT |
| Departure City | North Las Vegas |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2150 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | VGT |
| Destination City | North Las Vegas |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2013 3:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |