- Date
- December 6, 2000, 15:10 local (22:10 UTC)
- Place
- Montrose, CO
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N411SMHughes 369D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 1, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20001206028669A
- Case key
- 50748
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 foreign object damage to a main rotor blade, while maneuvering.
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 helicopter was engaged in an animal capture program. The pilot said that the net-gunner had deployed a net over a deer, when he felt the helicopter began to "shake violently." He said that the helicopter was approximately 10 feet off the ground; he landed it with 10 to 15 knots of forward speed. After sliding approximately 10 feet, the pilot heard a loud bang, and the aircraft rolled right and forward. The helicopter came to rest on its left side with its right landing skid broken. Postaccident examination of the helicopter's main rotor blades revealed that one blade had leading edge damage that corresponded in size to a missing net weight.
Factual narrative
On December 6, 2000, at approximately 1510 mountain standard time, a Hughes 369D, N411SM, was destroyed when it rolled over during a forced landinging near Montrose, Colorado. The commercial pilot and his two passengers were not injured. Helicopters by OZ, Inc., was operating the aircraft under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for this local public use flight that had originated at approximately 1445 from a staging area. No flight plan had been filed.
The helicopter was operating under contract with the State of Colorado's Division of Wildlife, and was engaged in an animal capture program. The pilot said that the net-gunner had deployed a net over a deer when he felt the helicopter begin to "shake violently." He said that the helicopter was approximately 10 feet off the ground; he landed it with 10 to 15 knots of forward speed. After sliding approximately 10 feet, the pilot heard a loud bang, and the aircraft rolled right and forward. The helicopter came to rest on its left side with its right landing skid broken, its tail boom separated, and its main rotor blades destroyed.
Postaccident examination of the helicopter's main rotor blades revealed that one blade had leading edge damage that corresponded in size to a missing net weight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N411SM
- Reported as
- Hughes 369D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 600743D
- Airframe hours
- 4,392
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Helicopters By Oz, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal; Special, Restricted (Special)
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
- 48
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,000 total · 4,500 in this make and model · 5,900 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 70 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 115 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MTJ, 12 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.