- Date
- July 21, 1990, 07:40 local (12:40 UTC)
- Place
- Berwick, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N3598FAerospatiale AS-350D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900721029299A
- Case key
- 23159
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
Pilot in command's failure to see and avoid obstacles in the landing zone. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with the landing zone.
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
During positioning within a landing zone the aircraft struck telephone lines while hovering at about three feet. The pilot saw the lines immediately before impact, but was unable to avoid them. The main rotor blades struck and severed the lines which then became entangled with one tail rotor blade. The blade subsequently separated and the tail rotor gearbox and a portion of the tail boom came off the aircraft shortly thereafter. The aircraft then landed hard. The landing zone was not one normally serviced by the operator and the pilot had never landed there before.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3598F
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS-350D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1132
- Airframe hours
- 8,488
- Engine
- Lycoming LTS101-600A, 590 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Petroleum Helicopters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Swig, Benjamine H.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · July 15, 1990
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- NONE · Private
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,598 total · 300 in this make and model · 1,359 as pilot in command · 59 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.