- Date
- June 2, 1995, 12:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Meeker, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N85RPBell 206B-III
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950602042879A
- Case key
- 19595
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
Failure by the pilot to maintain control of the aircraft during landing. A factor was soft 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
During takeoff the canopy fogged over and the pilot made a precautionary landing by looking out the side window. The left skid settled in the snow and the aircraft rolled left approximately 30 degrees. A main rotor blade severed the tail boom, the main rotor shaft fractured, and the main rotor blade penetrated the left side of the cabin.
Factual narrative
On June 2, 1995, at 1215 mountain daylight time, a Bell 206B-III helicopter, N85RP, sustained substantial damage during a precautionary landing near Meeker, Colorado. The airline transport rated pilot and passenger were not injured. The helicopter was being operated as a public use flight by the Department of the Interior under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
According to the pilot, he landed the helicopter on the snow covered ground to pick up passengers who had been measuring snow pack at 11,200 feet above mean sea level. One passenger boarded the helicopter. (Due to aircraft performance at altitude one passenger per load was maximum.) Following the takeoff, the canopy fogged and the pilot made a precautionary landing. During the landing, the pilot selected his landing point by looking out the side window. The pilot said that as he lowered the collective after landing, the helicopter broke through the snow and rolled approximately 30 degrees left. The main rotor severed the tail boom and the main rotor shaft fractured which was followed by a main rotor blade penetrating the cabin.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N85RP
- Reported as
- Bell 206B-III
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1654
- Airframe hours
- 4,454
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Department Of The Interior
- Registered owner
- James B. Dirker
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 18, 1995 · 6 hours before
- Departed
- 2V3 · 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 17,000 total · 8,000 in this make and model · 16,000 as pilot in command · 61 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 36 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.