- Date
- June 15, 1993, 07:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Valley City, ND
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N213MSHughes 269
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930615018109A
- Case key
- 9220
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-in-command's failure to maintain clearance from a tree during an aerial application manuever.
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 pilot reported he was applying herbicide with the helicopter on sloping terrain with an isolated tree nearby. He approached the tree to apply herbicide and inadvertently struck a tree branch with the main rotor blade. The pilot lost control of the helicopter and it crashed in the field adjacent to the tree.
Factual narrative
On June 15, 1993, about 0730 central daylight time, a Hughes 269 helicopter, N213MS, sustained substantial damage when it collided with a tree and terrain near Valley City, North Dakota. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The aerial application flight operated without flight plan under 14 CFR Part 137 in visual meteorological conditions.
The pilot reported he was flying slowly uphill from a ravine bottom while applying a herbicide. He was applying the herbicide near an isolated tree when he inadvertently allowed the main rotor blades to strike a tree branch. The helicopter descended uncontrollably and collided with terrain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N213MS
- Reported as
- Hughes 269
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- S1309
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Kriedelcamp, Jon
- Registered owner
- Kriedelcamp, Jon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
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
- 38
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,200 total · 125 in this make and model · 4,100 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.