- Date
- February 26, 2021, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kaufman, TX
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N58431Hughes 369
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards
- FAA report
- 20210226001709A
- Case key
- 102690
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 failure to maintain clearance from a power line during low-level maneuvering.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that the helicopter struck a power line while he pursued a small group of pigs during an aerial hunting flight. The helicopter was about 30 ft. above ground level when it struck an inactive power line running from a support pole to an abandoned farmhouse. The pilot executed a “quickstop” and landed normally in the field. Both power lines were cut, and the helicopter sustained substantial damage to one main rotor blade, one tail rotor blade, and the vertical stabilizer. There were no anomalies associated with the helicopter before the accident. According to the pilot, the operator had not previously conducted any flights at that location. He noted that, in the future, the operator will conduct a “recon of the area [and] not get below the tree line in an unfamiliar area.”
Aircraft
- Registration
- N58431
- Reported as
- Hughes 369 (D)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1290647D
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 30,228.2
- Engine
- Allison 250, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 28, 2020
- Departed
- PVT · Lone Oak, TX
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Handheld GPS
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 12, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total · 850 in this make and model · 1,000 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
- Observed at
- TRL, 7 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 13, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 19.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N58431 · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.