- Date
- April 29, 1984, 15:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Near Dillon, CO
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N608RMAerospatiale 316B
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840429018059A
- Case key
- 16373
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
When the plt took off from a mountainous ski area, light to moderate snow was falling & the winds were coming up the valley at 5 to 10 KTS. During the flt, he encountered an estimated 35 kt upslope wind as he was proceeding on the upwind side of a ridge at an elevation of about 12700 ft. with the updraft, he was able to reduce power. The horizon was not visible but he could see the mountain to his left rear area. Just prior to the accident, the acft was traveling at about 40 KTS at 100 to 150 ft AGL. The plt stated that while he was still in an updraft with reduced power, he looked back, no more than 3 to 5 sec. As he looked forward again. He encountered a wind shift which put him in a downwind, low power situation. Feeling there was insufficient space to turn downhill, he turned uphill, added power & flared. The helicopter touched down hard on steep terrain at about 12500 ft. then became airborne again. It impacted again after dropping 15 to 25 ft & came to rest. The t/r & t/r gear box separated during the sequence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N608RM
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale 316B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1166
- Airframe hours
- 3,455
- Engine
- Turbomeca IIB, 562 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- St. Anthony'S Hospital, doing business as [Ems]
- Registered owner
- Rocky Mountain Helicopters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · April 19, 1984
- Departed
- Dillon, CO
- Destination
- DEN · Denver, CO
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 5,300 total · 623 in this make and model · 2,500 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 90° at 30 knots, gusting 40
- Lowest ceiling
- 700 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 28 °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.