20100411033509I

Incident · Substantial damage

FAA incident report · Eurocopter AS 350 B3 · Ketchikan, AK · April 11, 2010

Date: April 11, 2010 · 08:32 local
Place: Ketchikan, AK
Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator: HXSA
Damage: Substantial damage
Aircraft: N405AE
Reported as: Eurocopter AS 350 B3
Reported engine: Turbomeca ARRIEL-1SER
People aboard: 1
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor
Pilot’s flight hours: 3,700 total

N405AERegistered now · Eurocopter AS 350 B3S/N 3286 · Built 2000 Airframe modelEurocopter AS 350 B3 Engine modelTurbomeca ARRIEL-1SERTurbo-shaft

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.

While attempting to land an AS-350-B3 in a confined area on high mountain pilot privacy data omitted contacted a solar panel with a main rotor blade , destroying the blade. Conditions were gusty winds, approximately 30-35 KTS. Due to the direction of the wind, the pilot had to land differently than normal, with the obstacle to his side. While looking back to insure that the heel of the skid was on the pad, the pilot allowed the aircraft to drift sideways into the panel frame.

As the FAA filed it

WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND AN AS-350-B3 IN A CONFINED AREA ON HIGH MOUNTAIN PILOT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ CONTACTED A SOLAR PANEL WITH A MAIN ROTOR BLADE , DESTROYING THE BLADE. CONDITIONS WERE GUSTY WINDS, APPROXIMATELY 30-35 KTS. DUE TO THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND, THE PILOT HAD TO LAND DIFFERENTLY THAN NORMAL, WITH THE OBSTACLE TO HIS SIDE. WHILE LOOKING BACK TO INSURE THAT THE HEEL OF THE SKID WAS ON THE PAD, THE PILOT ALLOWED THE AIRCRAFT TO DRIFT SIDEWAYS INTO THE PANEL FRAME.

Other reports on N405AE · 1

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

Accident 20000924041799ASfl Autorotation · Ketchikan, AK(-23) On September 24, 2000, temsco helicopters inc. experienced an uncontained in-flight engine failure of a Eurocopter AS-350-B3 during an instructional flight. A successful autorotation was accomplished with no injuries to the two pilots on board. During…Sep 24, 2000 · Substantial damage