- Date
- July 5, 2023, 14:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Amity, MO
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N828WPBell Helicopter Textron 206L-1
- 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
- FAA report
- 20230705016669A
- Case key
- 192546
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 see and avoid wires while conducting a low-level aerial application flight.
Findings · 2
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 during an aerial application flight, the helicopter impacted wires that he did not see, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and rotor blades. He stated that a road that paralleled the field dipped down, which made the wires appear below the horizon. The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N828WP
- Reported as
- Bell Helicopter Textron 206L-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 45294
- Built
- 1979
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C30P, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Cedar Ridge Aviation LLC
- Registered owner
- Cedar Ridge Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Remote, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- February 25, 2023
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,400 total · 58 in this make and model · 77 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- KSTJ, 23 nm away
- METAR
- KSTJ 051853Z VRB03KT 10SM SCT025 SCT075 SCT100 26/19 A3004 RMK AO2 SLP167 T02610194
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 31, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.7 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.