# Incident 20110923025969I: Bell 407, Union Springs, AL, September 23, 2011

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 23, 2011, 21:00 local time
- Place: Union Springs, AL
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Hover/Holding
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 32.1395° N, 85.7146° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Union Springs, AL, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.1395&lon=-85.7146&mi=10
- Aircraft: N34FW (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BELL 407
- Reported engine: ALLISON 250-C47
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 4,700 total, 420 in this make and model, 6 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20110923025969I

## Narrative

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

PILOT WAS HOVERING OVER POWER LINES AT NIGHT SEARCHING FOR A LANDING AREA / PARKING LOT WITH THE INTENT TO LAND.IT APPEARS THAT THE DOWN-WASH FROM THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES CAUSED THE POWER LINES TO MAKE CONTACT WITH EACH OTHER CREATING A SHORT CIRCUIT WITH A SUBSEQUENT POWER FAILURE.  AN FAA AIRCRAFT INSPECTION AT THE PILOTS HOME BASE CONFIRMED NO DAMAGE TO THE HELICOPTER.THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF THE HELI-COPTER MAKING CONTACT WITH THE POWER -LINES AND THE PILOT HAS STATED THAT HE NEVER SAW THE LINES UNTIL AFTER HE SAW THAT THE LIGHTS WERE OUT ON AN ADJACENT FOOTBALL FIELD AND SIMULTANEOUSLY NOTICED SPARKS COMING OUT OF WHAT APPEARED TO BE A TRANSFORMER.

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.

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