Arizona Newsroom

The Accident Site Was Located On A Logging Road In A Heavily Forested Area Indicative Of Northern Arizona Terrain

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Fort Apache Indian Reservation, operated the helicopter under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The helicopter was destroyed. The commercial pilot and one passenger were fatally injured; two passengers sustained serious injuries. One person on the ground was not injured. The public-use flight departed the Whiteriver Airport (E24), at 1000, en route to the Wilderness Fire in the vicinity of Aspen Ridge, 12 statute miles from E24. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a BIA company flight plan had been filed. The primary wreckage was at 33 degrees 53.152 minutes north latitude and 109 degrees 40.522 minutes west longitude.
The purpose of the flight was to insert a 3-person helicopter initial attack (helitack) crew to conduct an initial attack for a wildland fire along the Aspen Ridge.

The Safety Board Investigator-in-Charge (IIC) interviewed a ground witness to the accident. The helitack crewman had been dropped off at the road-landing zone (LZ), 100 yards west of the accident site. He stated that there were five people in the helicopter when they departed E24. No problems were noted with the flight to Aspen Ridge. They landed at a meadow, and two of the helitack crew exited the helicopter.

The helicopter then flew up the drainage area to the LZ, where the witness exited and off-loaded fire packs and tools. He stated that the initial landing was on the front side of a small hump in the road. Prior to his exiting, the pilot moved the helicopter back to a flatter area. When the pilot repositioned the helicopter, the witness heard a knocking noise.

The witness stated that the pilot took off again for the meadow. He reported that when the helicopter came back to the LZ, it was about 10-20 feet above the tree line. He estimated that the trees were about 100-feet tall. He also stated that the helicopter was flying slowly.

The witness stated that he was getting ready to marshal the flight in when the helicopter flew past him, continuing up the drainage. The witness reported that he did not know why they flew past him. He looked away to do something else, and heard a noise. When he looked up he saw the helicopter spinning to the right and then lost sight with the helicopter but heard what he believed was the helicopter hitting the trees.

The ground witness ran to the accident site, and rescued the survivors. During the rescue he extinguished a post-fire in the engine area.

The IIC interviewed the helicopter manager. He stated that the first flight of the day was a reconnaissance of the Kinishba Fire. The first startup of the day was unsuccessful. The pilot was able to start the helicopter on the second try and no mechanical difficulties were encountered. The first flight of the day was uneventful.

The helicopter manager stated that he received a call from dispatch about a fire "going up Aspen Ridge." He stated that he conducted a safety briefing prior to getting in the helicopter. He was seated in the front left seat, and the helitack crew was seated in the back facing forward. The 3-person helitack crew consisted of a squad boss, and two helitack crewmembers. He also indicated that the pilot was flying with the pilot's door off; however, the other doors remained on.

Once airborne they saw smoke from the wildland fire and flew towards it. He stated that the pilot made two passes over the fire. During the two passes they noticed a meadow, and another place closer to the fire to make a couple of drops. The plan was to off-load two helitack crew at the meadow, take the third crewman to the LZ with the tools, and then come back to the meadow for the others, ultimately dropping them off at the LZ.

The witness stated that when they landed at the LZ with the one helitack crewman and the tools, he heard a "knocking" noise. The pilot mentioned mast bumping, but said everything was okay. When they took off from the LZ, the witness noticed that the torque was at 100 percent and the helicopter was "hard to get off the ground." They landed at the meadow with no problems.

No problems were noted with the takeoff from the meadow. However, the witness stated that the climb out was slow. He did not have a chance to look at the torque on this takeoff because he had radioed dispatch to check in.

On the flight to the LZ, the witness stated that the helicopter was flying slowly, about 20 feet above the tree line. For unknown reasons, the pilot flew past the LZ. The pilot continued up the drainage.

The witness noted that the torque gauge read 100 percent. Simultaneously the torque reading went from 100 to 105 then to 110 percent, as the pilot started to make a right turn. He asked the pilot if the tail rotor was going to stall, but received no response. At that point, he noted the fuel gauge read 200 pounds and the airspeed gauge read zero.

The witness stated that as the pilot was beginning the right turn he could see him "fighting with the [flight] controls." He reported that the pilot was moving the collective, cyclic, and "his feet." The witness radioed dispatch, saying "dispatch" six times before the helicopter started to spin. He remembers the helicopter spinning two times to the right, and the next thing he remembered was trying to breathe.

The accident site was located on a logging road in a heavily forested area indicative of Northern Arizona terrain. The elevation was 9,232-feet mean sea level (msl).

The helicopter came to rest at the base of a tree lying on its left side. The tree was about 100-feet tall. A 22-foot section (top of the tree) came to rest in front and next to the nose of the helicopter. A 4-foot section of cut tree came to rest with the horizontal stabilizer.

The nose of the helicopter was on a magnetic heading of 180 degrees. The debris path was located to the south of the accident site, with the farthest piece found about 50 yards from the main wreckage. The main wreckage consisted of the fuselage, tail boom, doors, transmission, and both main rotor blades.

The tail boom separated from the helicopter in two portions. The portion that houses the horizontal stabilizer was 5 feet from the fuselage. The portion that houses the tail rotor was found upslope and adjacent to the horizontal stabilizer.

The tail rotor blades remained attached to the tail rotor gearbox and drive shaft. One tail rotor blade was straight. The other tail rotor blade was bent midspan at a 90-degree angle. Both blades showed no evidence of leading edge dents or nicks, or chordwise or longitudinal scratching.

The upper deck of the transmission separated from the helicopter, and was located adjacent to the main wreckage. The upper deck remained attached to the transmission, main rotor mast, main rotor hub, and one main rotor blade. The inboard portion of the main rotor blade had puncture holes in the blade and showed evidence of blue paint transfer on the upper side. The other blade separated approximately 4 feet from the hub. The blade was lying next to the main wreckage.

The helicopter was configured for the pilot to fly with the door off. The other doors had separated from the fuselage, but were found in the main wreckage area.

The engine had rotated 90 degrees to the left of its original position. An engine fuel line was broken and the burn area was concentrated in the area of the broken fuel line. The compressor blades were folded opposite the direction of rotation.

Air Transport, Phoenix, Arizona, retrieved the helicopter on July 30, 2003. An inspection took place on August 1, 2003. No discrepancies were found with the airframe and engine inspection.

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