# Accident 20171107018379A: Hughes 369D, Sulphur, LA, November 7, 2017

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 7, 2017, 09:30 local time
- Place: Sulphur, LA
- Airport: Southland Field
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Hover/Holding
- Operating rules: Rotorcraft external load (Part 133)
- Operator: IZWL
- Location: 30.2819° N, 93.3844° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=30.2819&lon=-93.3844&mi=10
- Aircraft: N138WH (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: HUGHES 369D
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 2
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 25,090 total, 11,286 in this make and model, 26 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB CEN18LA026](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN18LA026) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20171107018379A

## Narrative

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

PILOT DEPARTED LZ LOCATED AT N30°16?53.46 W093°23?12.92 AT 0940 LOCAL TIME WITH A 60 FEET OF LONG LINE ATTACHED. HE BROUGHT THE AIRCRAFT INTO A HOVER AT APPROXIMATELY 64 FOOT FOR THE TWO LINEMEN TO ATTACH THEIR HARNESS AND EQUIPMENT TO THE LONG LINE.

THE AIRCRAFT THEN APPROACHED THE PLANNED AREA OF OPERATIONS WITH INTENTIONS OF LINEMEN INSTALLING ONE END OF A CROSSING GUARD TO A CENTER POWER WIRE AND THE OTHER END TO AN OUTSIDE POWER WIRE.  THE POWER LINES WERE APPROXIMATELY 100 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, AND THE SUPPORT STRUCTURE IS APPROXIMATELY 130 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND.

IN ORDER TO ACCESS THE CENTER POWER LINE, THE PILOT LIFTED THE LINEMEN OVER 1 OF 2 STATIC LINES THAT WERE APPROXIMATELY 30 FEET ABOVE, RUNNING PARALLEL, BUT OFFSET TO THE POWER LINES.  HE THEN LOWERED THE LINEMEN BETWEEN THE TWO STATIC LINES TO THE CENTER POWER LINE TO ATTACH ONE END OF THE CROSSING GUARD.

AFTER THE LINEMEN INSTALLED THE CENTER WIRE CROSSING GUARD, THE PILOT MANEUVERED THE AIRCRAFT IN THE DIRECTION OF THE CLOSEST SUPPORT STRUCTURE. THE PILOT THEN NOTICED THE LINEMEN HAD USED THEIR MOMENTUM TO GRAB ONTO THE OUTSIDE WIRE, WHICH WAS THE INTENDED LOCATION FOR THE OTHER END OF THE CROSSING GUARD.  BY GRABBING THE OUTSIDE POWER LINE AT THIS TIME; THE PILOT SAW THIS HAD CAUSED THE LONG LINE TO COME IN CONTACT WITH A STATIC WIRE APPROXIMATELY 30-FOOT ABOVE THE LINEMEN.

HE ATTEMPTED TO MANEUVER THE AIRCRAFT TO COAX THE LINEMEN TO LET GO OF THE OUTSIDE POWER LINE WHICH WOULD CAUSE THE LONG LINE NO LONGER BE IN CONTACT WITH THE STATIC WIRE, BUT THE LONG LINE SNAPPED AT THE CONTACT POINT BEFORE THE ACTION COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED. PILOT RETURNED TO LZ WITH APPROXIMATELY 30 FEET OF THE LONG LINE ATTACHED. NO OTHER DAMAGE TO AIRCRAFT.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB CEN18LA026](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN18LA026), Nov 7, 2017: Hughes 369D (N138WH), Sulphur, LA, no damage, 2 fatal. Probable cause: The pilot's failure to maintain adequate separation between a long line being used to hoist linemen from a shield wire during an external load flight, which resulted in the long line being severed.

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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