# Incident 20190305000629I: American Eurocopter Corp AS350B3, Sun Valley, ID, March 5, 2019

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 5, 2019, 13:00 local time
- Place: Sun Valley, ID
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Landing: Touchdown
- Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
- Operator: FZPA
- Location: 43.6839° N, 114.3342° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Sun Valley, ID, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=43.6839&lon=-114.3342&mi=10
- Aircraft: N353E, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N353E) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: American Eurocopter AS350B3 (registry code 1145004, https://openairdocs.org/model/american-eurocopter-as350b3) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Turbomeca ARRIEL-2D (registry code 60080, https://openairdocs.org/engine/turbomeca-arriel-2d) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: AMERICAN EUROCOPTER CORP AS350B3
- Reported engine: TURBOMECA ARRIEL 2D
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 10,888 total, 3,946 in this make and model, 80 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20190305000629I

## Narrative

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

PILOT WAS CONDUCTING HELI-SKI OPERATIONS.  THE SKIERS COULD NOT MAKE IT DOWN TO THE NORMAL PICK SITE, SO THEY CONSTRUCTED A SPOT ON THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR A PICK UP.  AS THE PILOT WAS LANDING, HIS MAIN ROTOR BLADES CONTACTED THE SNOW.  THE END OF THE BLADES WERE DAMAGED FROM THE CONTACT WITH THE SNOW.

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.