- Date
- May 22, 1999, 06:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Baggs, WY
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N535HEnstrom 280C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 22, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990522005529A
- Case key
- 46371
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 not maintaining the main rotor's RPM. Factor's were the high density altitude, and the mountainous/hilly terrain.
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 said that they had just shot a coyote and were landing to pick it up. The coyote lay between two ridges, and as he approached the site, the main rotor RPM began to decay. The pilot said that there wasn't sufficient altitude to recover, and he landed on the flattest place he could find. He said they landed hard, and the main rotor blades 'sheared off the tail boom.' The density altitude was estimated to be 7,500 feet.
Factual narrative
On May 22, 1999, approximately 0630 mountain daylight time, an Enstrom 280C helicopter, N535H, was substantially damaged during a hard landing near Baggs, Wyoming. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The helicopter was being operated by J. and R. Enterprise, of Casper, Wyoming, under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local coyote hunting flight which originated approximately 30 minutes before the accident. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot said that they had just shot a coyote and were landing to pick it up. The coyote lay between two ridges, and as he approached the site, the main rotor RPM began to decay. The pilot said that there wasn't sufficient altitude to recover, so he landed on the flattest place he could find. He said they landed hard, and the main rotor blades "sheared off the tail boom."
The density altitude was estimated to be 7,500 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N535H
- Reported as
- Enstrom 280C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1030
- Airframe hours
- 1,504
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-EIBD, 205 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John L. Irwin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 11, 1999 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
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
- 72
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 10,880 total · 1,483 in this make and model · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N535H · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.