- Date
- August 11, 1994, 11:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sargeant, MN
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N64292Bell 47G3B1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 12, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940811021189A
- Case key
- 9635
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 transmission wire during an agricultural spray run. A factor in the accident is the transmission wire.
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 had just completed an aerial application spray run with the helicopter, and was maneuvering to start another run. He turned the helicopter to miss a guy wire, and in the process inadvertently allowed the main rotor blades to strike a transmission wire. He was able to maintain partial control of the helicopter, and made a forced landing in a nearby field.
Factual narrative
On August 11, 1994, about 1100 central daylight time, a Bell 47G3B1 helicopter, N64292, sustained substantial damage when it collided with power lines near Sargeant, Minnesota. The commercial pilot reported no injury. The aerial application flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without flight plan under 14 CFR Part 137.
The pilot reported he was making a swath run and maneuvered to miss a guy wire. During the turn to avoid the guy wire, the helicopter's main rotor collided with power lines. The pilot was able to maintain partial control of the helicopter, and made a forced landing in a nearby field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N64292
- Reported as
- Bell 47G3B1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3730
- Airframe hours
- 8,690
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-435-A1F, 265 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Agri Helicopter, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 5, 1994 · 6 hours before
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 30
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 203 total · 95 in this make and model · 152 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 2 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.