# Incident 20041126030189I: Bolkms BK117B2, Sioux City, IA, November 26, 2004

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 26, 2004, 20:15 local time
- Place: Sioux City, IA
- Airport: Sioux Gateway
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Scud Running
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Operator: QMLA
- Location: 42.5000° N, 96.4003° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Sioux City, IA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.5000&lon=-96.4003&mi=10
- Aircraft: N911SX, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N911SX-2014-03-25) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm BK 117 B-2 (registry code 5626013, https://openairdocs.org/model/messerschmitt-bolkow-blohm-bk-117-b-2) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Amateur-built UNKNOWN ENG (registry code 99999, https://openairdocs.org/engine/amateur-built-unknown-eng) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BOLKMS BK117B2
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 6,937 total, 46 in this make and model, 56 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20041126030189I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) EMS HELICOPTER OPERATED BY AIR METHODS HAD FLOWN FROM MERCY HOSPITAL IN SIOUX CITY, IOWA, TO PIERSON, IOWA, WITH THE PILOT AND TWO MEDICAL ATTENDANTS TO PICK UP A PATIENT. AFTER ARRIVING IN PIERSON, IT WAS DECIDED THAT THE PATIENT WOULD BE TRANSPORTED BY GROUND TRANSPORTATION. THE MEDICAL CREW THAT HAD TRAVELED TO PIERSON ON THE HELICOPTER RETURNED TO MERCY HOSPITAL WITH THE PATIENT IN THE GROUND TRANSPORTATION. THE PILOT THEN BEGAN THE FLIGHT BACK TO MERCY HOSPITAL. HE WAS THE SOLE OCCUPANT ON THE AIRCRAFT. WHILE IN CRUISE FLIGHT, THE CEILING BEGAN TO LOWER. THE PILOT FLEW THE AIRCRAFT AT 600 TO 700 FEET AGL TO REMAIN IN VFR CONDITIONS. WHILE DIVERTING THE HELICOPTER AROUND LOWERING WEATHER CONDITIONS, THE PILOT INADVERTENTLY ALLOWED THE AIRCRAFT TO DESCEND DURING A TURN AND STRUCK POWERLINES. THERE WAS DAMAGE TO THE WIRE STRIKE PROTECTION BRACE, RIGHT WINDSHIELD, RADOME, AND ONE ANTENNA. THE POWERLINE WIRES WERE CUT AND POLES DAMAGED. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.