Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Thompson Falls, Montana 59873
Saturday, July 27, 2013 13:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 27, 2013, about 1300 mountain daylight time, a Robinson R44 II helicopter, N25WH, was substantially damaged following a loss of control and subsequent impact with terrain near Thompson Falls, Montana. The aircraft was registered to Zoot Helicopter I LLC, of Bozeman, Montana, and operated by Rocky Mountain Rotors, Belgrade, Montana. The certified commercial pilot received fatal injuries, one passenger sustained serious injuries, and the second passenger suffered minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the aerial survey flight, which was being conducted in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed the Polson Airport (8S1), Polson, Montana, about 1100. The intended destination was the Thompson Falls Airport (THM).
According to the passenger who sustained minor injuries, the purpose of the flight was to photo document the condition of the cross-country power lines and their supporting wooden structures. The passenger reported that the pilot occupied the right front seat, his associate who was operating the video taping equipment occupied the left front, and he occupied the left rear seat taking still photographs. The passenger stated that everything was going fine, but then suddenly the helicopter started to rotate in a clockwise orientation, about 4 revolutions, prior to impact with terrain. He described the impact attitude of the helicopter as being very steep nose down and banked to the right. There was no post-crash fire.
Representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, Lycoming Motors, and Robinson Helicopters, examined the helicopter at the accident site the day following the event. The examination revealed that the helicopter impacted heavily forested terrain in a steep nose low, right bank attitude, and came to rest on its right side on a magnetic heading of 178 degrees. The cockpit and cabin areas were severely damaged, both main rotor blades were destroyed, and the transmission was displaced aft about 45 degrees. The engine was observed to have been only slightly damaged, as well as the helicopter's tail boom. Both tail rotor blades and the associated gear box were observed undamaged. All components necessary for flight were accounted for at the accident site.
The helicopter was recovered to a secured facility for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/27/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Thompson Falls |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59873 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 473248N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1153113W |
| 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 | 1302 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | THM8 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2487 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 88 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 38 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 335 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 7 2013 12:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N25WH |
| NTSB Number | WPR13FA343 |
| 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 | ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | R44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10481 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ZOOT HELICOPTER I LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 555 ZOOT ENTERPRISE LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOZEMAN |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59718-8128 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rocky Mountain Rotors |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Belgrade |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59714 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 8S1 |
| Departure City | Polson |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | THM |
| Destination City | Thompson Falls |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 7 2013 12:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |