DEN02LA044

The helicopter was lifting off from a steel helipad located at the 8,800' msl level when it began turning to the right. The pilot applied left pedal, but the helicopter struck trees and impacted terrain 300 feet from the helipad. The pilot told an FAA inspector he had lost "tail rotor effectiveness." The pilot said there were gusty winds in the area at the time of the accident.

On May 18, 2002, at 1449 mountain daylight time, a Bell 206L-1, N3894Q, operated by Classic Helicopters, Inc., of Woods Cross, Utah, was substantially damaged when it collided with trees during takeoff from a mountain top, 3 miles east-southeast of Salem, Utah. The commercial pilot was seriously injured, and two passengers received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the on-demand, non-scheduled domestic passenger flight being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 135. The flight originated in Bountiful, Utah, approximately 1400 MDT.

The helicopter had been chartered by American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) to transport personnel to remote repeater antenna sites. It was lifting off from one such site, a steel helipad located on Salem Peak at the 8,800' msl level, when it began turning to the right. The pilot applied left pedal, but the helicopter struck trees and impacted terrain 300 feet from the helipad.

The pilot told an FAA inspector he had lost "tail rotor effectiveness." Damage consisted of a severed tail boom, a destroyed main rotor, a broken nose section and Plexiglas, a damaged skid tube, and a punctured fuselage panel. The pilot said there were gusty winds in the area at the time of the accident.

This report was modified on May 20, 2005.