Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wenatchee, Washington 98807
Wednesday, July 23, 2014 12:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 23, 2014, about 1215 Pacific daylight time, a Bell 206A, N949FM, landed hard and rolled onto its right side near Wenatchee, Washington. Applebee Aviation was operating the helicopter under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence. The local agricultural flight departed about 1115. Visual (VMC) meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
No witnesses visually observed the accident. An ear witness heard the helicopter, and then a thud followed by silence. This witness and her spouse responded to the site, and observed the helicopter on its side and smoking. Other personnel arrived; they applied several fire extinguishers to the smoking area at the back of the engine, and the smoking stopped.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the wreckage on site.
The helicopter was on its right side. The back section of the skids was more damaged than the front. The back right cross member separated at the connection of the skid; the back left cross member partially separated at the connection with the skid. There was a ground scar several feet long that was parallel to the right skid.
The left horizontal stabilizer was touching the ground, exhibited crush damage, and was bent down; there was a ground scar about 15 inches long leading to it. The right horizontal stabilizer was pointing up, and was not damaged.
The vertical stabilizers were in a horizontal position. The bottom of the vertical stabilizer and stinger were not damaged. The top of the vertical stabilizer was damaged, and bent about 50 degrees to the left.
All servos were damaged with multiple jagged and angular separations.
Recovery personnel obtained about 25 gallons of clean clear fluid from the fuel tank that smelled like jet fuel.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wenatchee |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98807 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 473722N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1202526W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1155 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KEAT |
| 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 | 11000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KEAT 231855Z AUTO 30010KT 9SM FEW025 BKN110 23/14 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NWM 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 | Aug 6 2014 6:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N949FM |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA310 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 87 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 4 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| 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 | Aplebee Aviation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Banks |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97106 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aplebee Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Banks |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 97106 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Wenatchee |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Wenatchee |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 6 2014 6:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| 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 | -- |