- Date
- April 5, 1990, 17:55 local (Apr 6, 1990, 01:55 UTC)
- Place
- Trading Bay, AK
- Injuries
- 4 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N37903Aerospatiale SA-315B
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19900405007669A
- Case key
- 5346
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Factors related to the accident were: snow covered terrain, adverse weather conditions, and spatial disorientation of the pilot, due to lack of visual cure during the landing.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt rprtd that when he took off, there was 1-1/2 to 2 mi vis with light snow. About 5 min later, he encountered whiteout conditions & initiated a landing. However, the helicopter touchdown hard & the main rotor blades contacted the tail boom, which resulted in extensive damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N37903
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale SA-315B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2565
- Airframe hours
- 5,457
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARTOUSTE IIIB, 550 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Nthrn Geophysical Of America
- Registered owner
- Prudential Capitol Group Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 2, 1990 · 22 hours before
- Departed
- Drift River, AK
- Destination
- Granite Point, AK
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 45
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 15,779 total · 4,000 in this make and model · 15,579 as pilot in command · 264 in the last 90 days · 102 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 25 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Temperature
- 32 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.