ANC09LA031

The solo airline transport helicopter pilot reported that he was on a Title 14, CFR Part 91 positioning flight and was approaching an off-airport landing site on a snow-covered glacier to pick up skiers. He said as he neared the site, he inadvertently flew the helicopter into an unseen rise, resulting in substantial damage to the helicopter and serious injuries to himself. He said he had just flown from bright sunlight into shade, and due to the prevailing flat light, he was unable to discern his height above the glacier. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the helicopter.

On April 12, 2009, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, an Aerospatiale AS-350 B2 E helicopter, N208CH, operated by Coastal Helicopters, Juneau, Alaska as a Part 91 positioning flight to pick up skiers, sustained substantial damage when it collided with a snow-covered glacier, about 32 miles northwest of Haines, Alaska. The solo airline transport certificated pilot received serious injuries. The flight originated from Mile 33 of the Haines Highway about 1750, and was en route to the Little Jarvis Glacier to pick up skiers at the bottom of the glacier. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan was in effect. In a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) on April 16, the general manager of Coastal Helicopters said the pilot had been taking skiers to various locations in the general area of the accident to ski down the slopes, and would then pick them up at the bottom. The manager related that the flight to the Little Jarvis Glacier was not the pilot's first landing at this site the day of the accident, but he approached it from a slightly different direction and at a shallower angle than previously. During the accident flight's approach to the landing site, the manager indicated the pilot told him he flew into a small, unseen rise on the glacier, hit hard, bounced about 5 feet into the air, and spun about the vertical axis three times before descending onto the glacier near the initial impact point. The general manager said the pilot reported no mechanical problems with the helicopter prior to the accident. He also noted the pilot told him he had just flown from bright sunshine into shadow, and due to the all white surface of the glacier and flat lighting conditions, he was unable to accurately gauge his height above the glacier. A telephone interview on April 20 with the FAA inspector from the Juneau Flight Standards District Office who interviewed the pilot on April 17, disclosed the same information. The accident pilot also submitted a written statement to the NTSB dated April 14, which was consistent with the FAA inspector's and general manager's statements. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the helicopter.