ERA17LA103

According to the airline transport pilot, he was dispatched on the emergency medical flight to an accident scene about 35 nautical miles from his base operations. The pilot checked the weather, completed the risk assessment form, and departed for the scene in the helicopter. He further stated that he climbed to 2,500 ft mean sea level and noted the winds to be from the southwest at 35 knots. He stated he was comfortable flying in these conditions and had flown in similar wind conditions several times before. The pilot stated that he was cautious of electrical wires that were next to the intended landing helipad. He came over the wires at 100 ft to clear them and then started to descend the helicopter at a rate of about 200 ft per minute. As the helicopter approached the ground, he increased the collective but was unable to slow the descent. The helicopter landed hard, bounced, and rolled onto its right side. The pilot stated that there were no known mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter before the accident. Thus, it is likely that the pilot failed to maintain helicopter control while landing.

On February 7, 2017, about 0520 eastern standard time, a Eurocopter EC 135, N135LG, was substantially damaged following a hard landing near Beattyville, Kentucky. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The helicopter departed from the Mt. Sterling base (IOB), Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and was destined for St. Helens, Kentucky. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the emergency medical flight conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135.According to the pilot, he was dispatched to an accident scene about 35 nautical miles from his base operations in Mt. Sterling. The pilot checked the weather and completed the risk assessment form. The forecast was for visual meteorological conditions and he departed for the scene sometime before 0500. He further stated that he climbed to 2,500 feet mean sea level and noted the winds to be from the south-west at 35 knots. He stated he was comfortable flying in these conditions, and had flown in these type winds several times before. Once he arrived at the landing zone, he was cautious of electrical wires that were next to the helipad, so he came over the wires at 100 feet to clear them and started to descend at a rate around 200 feet per minute. When he was just above the ground, he tried to increase collective but was unable to arrest the descent. He stated to the crew "this was going to be a hard landing". The helicopter bounced when it hit the ground and rolled over on the right side. The pilot told everyone to remain in the helicopter until the rotor stopped spinning to avoid injuries. After the rotor stopped spinning, all three occupants egressed the helicopter. The pilot stated there were no known mechanical deficiencies with the helicopter prior to the accident. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the helicopter came to rest on the right side. All four main rotor blades were destroyed during impact. All four main rotor pitch links were broken from impact as well as the rotating scissors. The tail boom was fractured at the horizontal stabilizer/fenestron mount. The tail rotor and vertical fin assembly were intact and the blades did not exhibit any damage. The upper left horizontal stabilizer vertical winglet exhibited impact damage from the main rotors. The pilot's windshield and skylight were broken out and the nose bow area was crushed.