20050902021039I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Bell OH-58A · London, KY · September 2, 2005

Date
September 2, 2005 · 12:15 local
Place
London, KY
Airport
London-Corbin Airport-Macgee
Phase of flight
Low Level Operations
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N10LC
Reported as
Bell OH58A
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
2,900 total680 in this make and model76 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-23) The pilot privacy data omitted of the laurel county, KY sheriff dept. Had landed at a remote location during a marijuana detail. Following a take-off from this location he made a turn to fly into a valley. He saw power lines across the valley ahead of him. The lines were drooping. As the pilot privacy data omitted flew over the power lines the helicopter struck a static wire that was drawn taut above the drooping power lines. The pilot privacy data omitted had not seen the static wire, which is silver in color and blended in with the sky. The collision with the static wire broke the helicopter's windshield. The pilot privacy data omitted made a successful landing on highway 25. There were no injuries.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) THE PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA ^ OF THE LAUREL COUNTY, KY SHERIFF DEPT. HAD LANDED AT A REMOTE LOCATION DURING A MARIJUANA DETAIL. FOLLOWING A TAKE-OFF FROM THIS LOCATION HE MADE A TURN TO FLY INTO A VALLEY. HE SAW POWER LINES ACROSS THE VALLEY AHEAD OF HIM. THE LINES WERE DROOPING. AS THE PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA ^ FLEW OVER THE POWER LINES THE HELICOPTER STRUCK A STATIC WIRE THAT WAS DRAWN TAUT ABOVE THE DROOPING POWER LINES. THE PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA ^ HAD NOT SEEN THE STATIC WIRE, WHICH IS SILVER IN COLOR AND BLENDED IN WITH THE SKY. THE COLLISION WITH THE STATIC WIRE BROKE THE HELICOPTER'S WINDSHIELD. THE PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA ^ MADE A SUCCESSFUL LANDING ON HIGHWAY 25. THERE WERE NO INJURIES.