# Incident 20240715008539I: Robinson Helicopter Company R44 II, Talkeetna, AK, July 15, 2024

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 15, 2024, 14:15 local time
- Place: Talkeetna, AK
- Airport: Talkeetna
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Other, Specify
- Operating rules: Rotorcraft external load (Part 133)
- Operator: TL7L
- Location: 62.3214° N, 150.0927° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at TALKEETNA (TKA), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=62.3214&lon=-150.0927&mi=10
- Aircraft: N4QH, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4QH) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Robinson Helicopter R44 II (registry code 7640122, https://openairdocs.org/model/robinson-helicopter-r44-ii) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming IO-540-AE1A5 (registry code 41899, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-540-ae1a5) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: ROBINSON HELICOPTER COMPANY R44 II
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Airline transport, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 9,800 total, 1,800 in this make and model, 100 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20240715008539I

## Narrative

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

DEPARTED THE TALKEETNA AIRPORT AT 2:00PM LOCAL WITH THE CURRENT AFIS AND TRAFFIC ADVISORY CARRYING A SLING LOAD ON A 100FT LINE. WEATHER AT THE AIRPORT WAS REPORTED AS VISIBILITY 10, WIND 270 AT 5KTS, CLOUDS 6500FT BROKEN. AFTER SETTING THE LOAD AT A REMOTE CABIN SITE 10 MILE EAST ON A BRUSHY HILLSIDE WITH A FEW TREES I LOWERED THE HELICOPTER TO RELEASE THE LINE KEEPING THE TREE NEAREST THE LOAD IN SIGHT. AS I LOWERED THE LINE BECAME ENTANGLED IN A FALLEN SPRUCE TREE NEAR THE LOAD. I PICKED BACK UNTANGLING THE LINE FROM THE TREE AND WHEN I ELECTED TO LOWER AGAIN MY FOCUS WAS ON THE LINE AND NOT GETTING IT TANGLED AGAIN. I NOW ACCIDENTLY OMITTED THE NEARBY TREE FROM MY SCAN AND JUST PRIOR TO RELEASING THE LINE THE MAIN ROTOR BLADE CONTACTED THE TREE TOP NEAR THE TIP. I CLIMBED SLIGHTLY, RELEASED THE LINE AND LANDED IMMEDIATELY ABOUT 50 YARDS AWAY. MECHANICS WERE FLOWN TO THE SIGHT AND DETERMINED THE DENTS WERE BEYOND SERVICE LIMITS AND THE HELICOPTER WAS RECOVERED BY HELICOPTER A FEW DAYS LATER.

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.