- Date
- August 7, 1985, 09:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Pickett, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1476WBell 47G-5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850807036959A
- Case key
- 13184
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 fld where this accident occurred had been sprayed one week prior to the accident by a fixed-wing acft at an alt of 20 ft. no wires were noted to be a hazard at that time. On the day of the accident the plt of the helicopter was talking to a spotter on the ground via radio. Neither person noticed the power lines crossing one end of a small section of the corn fld. The helicopter struck the wires on his first pass. They became entangled in his rotor control rods and the machine settled to the ground. The plt stated that the reason neither he nor his spotter saw the wires was because they were strung in a non-standard manner in that the non-supported span of wire was excessive. The wires drooped to 7 ft above the corn. Also there were no guy wires or transformers on the poles to indicate a power line array. This plt has over 5600 hours of aerial application flying time in his logbook.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1476W
- Reported as
- Bell 47G-5
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7946
- Airframe hours
- 3,600
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-B1A, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Reabe Spraying Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 2, 1985 · 95 hours before
- Departed
- RLA · Ripon, WI
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
- 39
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 8,000 total · 700 in this make and model · 210 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
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 N1476W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.