- Date
- October 17, 2023, 14:50 local (18:50 UTC)
- Place
- Mitchell, IN
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N490AEBell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4
- Defining event
- Enroute: Birdstrike
- 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
- Federal Aviation Administration, Indianapolis FSDO
- FAA report
- 20231017012299A
- Case key
- 193266
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 inflight collision with a bird while in cruise 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 air medical flight departed from a hospital and was enroute to the operator’s base of operation. About 30 minutes after departure, while in cruise flight, at an airspeed of about 109 kts and an altitude of about 1,058 ft above ground level, the helicopter encountered a bird strike with a black vulture (Coragyps atratus). A heavy vibration ensued, and the pilot performed an off-airport landing to a field. The helicopter sustained substantial damage, which was a bent pitch change link for the main rotor system, from the bird strike. There was no mechanical malfunction/failure of the helicopter that would have precluded normal operations.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N490AE
- Reported as
- Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 206L-4
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 52336
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 7,344.2
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C30P, 650 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Air Evac MS Inc
- Registered owner
- Air Evac MS Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · October 8, 2023
- Departed
- 81II · Indianapolis, IN
- Destination
- Paoli, IN
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- BFR · Virgil I Grissom Municipal Airport
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display
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
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2023
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,106 total · 114 in this make and model · 1,992 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,300 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.10 inHg
- Observed at
- BFR, 4.9 nm away
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 7, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.6 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.