Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Boulder City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Boulder City, Nevada
Friday, July 25, 2014 16:43 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On July 25, 2014, about 1643 Pacific daylight time, a landing Eurocopter/Airbus EC-130, N154GC, and a taxiing DeHavilland DHC-6, N190GC collided at Boulder City airport (BVU) Boulder City, Nevada. Neither the two pilots on board the airplane, nor the pilot and six passengers aboard the helicopter, were injured. The helicopter, operated by Papillon Airways Inc. (dba Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters dba Grand Canyon Helicopters) as an aerial sightseeing flight, sustained substantial damage. That flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. The airplane, operated by Grand Canyon Airlines, was beginning a repositioning flight, and was being operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed.
According to the EC-130 pilot, he was inbound from the south, and planned to land on the airport location designated as "Spot 2," which was a dedicated helicopter arrival and departure location. He followed the company-designated arrival procedure, in which the helicopter flew a descending pattern first north along the centerline of taxiway A, and then west along the centerline of taxiway D to Spot 2. Spot 2 was a 50-foot painted square situated on the airport ramp. Taxiway D was 40 feet wide, was oriented approximately east-west, and comprised the southern perimeter of the same ramp. The center of Spot 2 was located about 50 feet north of the centerline of taxiway D. Since BVU was not equipped with an operating air traffic control tower, the pilot communicated his positions and intentions via radio transmissions on the BVU common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF).
The helicopter pilot first saw the airplane when the helicopter was making the left turn from north to west near the junction of taxiways A and D. At that time, the airplane was moving south, towards taxiway D, along a taxi line just east of Spot 1, on ramp about 600 feet east of Spot 2. The airplane crew announced their intentions on CTAF to taxi to runway 15 via taxiway D. The helicopter pilot reported that the last time he saw the airplane prior to the accident was as the helicopter overflew the intersection of taxiway D and the taxi line just east of Spot 1. At that time, the airplane was turning westbound onto taxiway D. The helicopter pilot realized the potential for conflict, since the two were now both traveling westbound along taxiway D. The helicopter pilot stated that he "immediately" queried on CTAF whether the airplane crew had him in sight. The pilot heard a "double click" on the CTAF frequency, which he interpreted as acknowledgement by the airplane crew that they had him in sight. Based on this information, the pilot was convinced that the airplane was behind him and that its flight crew had him in sight.
The helicopter pilot therefore continued his descent along the centerline of taxiway D towards Spot 2. About 8 to 10 seconds later, as the helicopter came almost abeam of Spot 2, the pilot began a right pedal turn to traverse to and set down on Spot 2. At the commencement of that pedal turn, the pilot simultaneously spotted the wings and nose of the airplane through his chin windows, and felt an" impact." He stopped the turn and descent, transitioned to Spot 2, descended, and landed on the ramp.
The flight crew of the airplane was unaware that there had been a collision, and they continued with their taxi-out and departure from BVU. The airplane was recalled to BVU by company personnel once they learned of the collision. The airplane was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Subsequent to the company's attempt to obtain a non-NTSB sanctioned readout of the CVR, the device was obtained by the NTSB, and sent to the NTSB recorders laboratory in Washington, DC for readout.
The helicopter pilot had recently been hired by Papillon, and the accident occurred on his first day "flying the line" for the operator. The captain of the airplane began his duty day at 0507 that morning, and the collision occurred during his sixth flight of the day.
The 1656 automated weather observation at Henderson Executive airport (HND) Las Vegas Nevada, located about 13 miles west of BVU, included winds from 240 degrees at 15 knots, gusts to 19 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, temperature 40 degrees C, dew point 9 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 29.86 inches of mercury.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1643 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Boulder City |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Boulder City |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BVU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2200 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1656 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| 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) | 40 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.86 |
| 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 | 9 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 4 2014 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N154GC | N190GC |
| NTSB Number | WPR14LA313A | WPR14LA313B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | -- | -- |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Substantial | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER | DEHAVILLAND |
| Aircraft Model | EC 130 B4 | DHC 6 300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | 310 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7077 | 285 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PAPILLON AIRWAYS INC | MONARCH ENTERPRISES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 12515 WILLOWS RD NE STE 200 | 12515 WILLOWS RD NE STE 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | KIRKLAND | KIRKLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 980348795 | 980348795 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | PAPILLON AIRWAYS INC | Grand Canyon Airlines |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | 12515 WILLOWS RD NE STE 200 | -- |
| Operator City | KIRKLAND | -- |
| Operator State | WA | NV |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 980348795 | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder | 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 | Non-scheduled | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | BVU | BVU |
| Departure City | Boulder City | Boulder City |
| Departure State | NV | NV |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | -- | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BVU | -- |
| Destination City | Boulder City | -- |
| Destination State | NV | -- |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 4 2014 12:40PM | Aug 4 2014 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |