- Date
- October 10, 1985, 08:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Kremmling, CO
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1959GBell BH 206BII
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19851010051249A
- Case key
- 16872
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
While maneuvering to observe wildlife, the pilot attempted to hover out of gnd effect in steep mtns terrain at 9800 ft MSL at 2550 lbs gw with a 7-10KT tailwind. According to acft hoge charts in the POH, the acft was not capable of hoge in the conditions of alt, gw, and tailwind at the accident site. The attempt to exceed the acft capabilities resulted a rt spin from which the pilot was not able to recover due to low alt AGL. The acft descended out of control until impact with trees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1959G
- Reported as
- Bell BH 206BII
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 725
- Airframe hours
- 1,002
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Phillip J. Spano, Jr.
- Registered owner
- Gates Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · October 9, 1985 · 4 hours before
- Departed
- Henderson, CO
- Destination
- 20V · Kremmling, CO
- Airport
- 20V · Kremmling
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,475 total · 88 in this make and model · 1,200 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- EGE, 34 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.