- Date
- February 12, 2018, 15:53 local (22:53 UTC)
- Place
- Heber City, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N338HWHughes 369
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-low-alt flying: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 14, 2018
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 96736
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’s failure to maintain clearance from an elk while maneuvering at a low altitude.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The helicopter pilot reported that he was maneuvering at a low altitude in an attempt to net an elk. When the helicopter was approximately above the elk, his attention was immediately focused forward due to a small rise in terrain. He pitched the helicopter's nose up, and the helicopter started to shake and spin. Subsequently, the helicopter struck the ground, the right skid broke, and the helicopter came to rest on its right side. Postaccident examination revealed that the tail rotor had struck the elk when the pilot pitched the helicopter's nose up. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tailboom and rotor. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The helicopter pilot reported that, he was maneuvering at a low altitude in an attempt to net an elk. When the helicopter was approximately above the elk, his attention was immediately focused forward due to a small rise in terrain. He pitched the nose of the helicopter up, and the helicopter started to shake and spin. Subsequently, the helicopter struck the ground, the right skid broke, and the helicopter came to rest on its right side. A post-accident examination revealed that the helicopter's tail-rotor had struck the elk when the pilot pitched the helicopter's nose up. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail-boom and rotor. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N338HW
- Reported as
- Hughes 369 (D)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 890559D
- Built
- 1979
- Airframe hours
- 6,339
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Heliwild Investments LLC, doing business as Helicopter Wildlife Services
- Registered owner
- Heliwild Investments LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 30, 2018
- Equipment
- None
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 25, 2016
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 4,877.7 total · 1,670 in this make and model · 4,700.3 as pilot in command · 275.2 in the last 90 days · 95 in the last 30 days · 6.4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 18 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.79 inHg
- Observed at
- KPVU, 32 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 29, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 MB in all.