- Date
- June 16, 2018, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Yabucoa, PR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N900FFMcdonnell Douglas Heli 369
- Defining event
- Maneuvering-hover: Low altitude operation/event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 5, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20180616015519A
- Case key
- 97609
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 main rotor clearance from a fiber line while picking up a lineman.
Findings · 2
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
According to the helicopter pilot, he dropped off a lineman on top of a power line tower to install fiber lines. The lineman completed the task and informed the pilot by radio that he was ready to be picked up from the tower. While picking up the lineman, the pilot hovered next to the tower and signaled to the lineman that he was ready for him to transfer from the tower to the helicopter’s left skid. When the lineman reached out to attach his lanyard to the helicopter, the pilot felt the main rotor blades strike a fiber line that the lineman had just installed. The helicopter became controllable, and the pilot conducted a precautionary landing without picking up the lineman. After the pilot discussed the event with the lineman, the lineman raised the fiber line to a higher position on the tower and then the pilot picked him up. Postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that the main rotor blades sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented by assessing each approach and landing individually while looking for any possible new hazards or obstructions. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
According to the helicopter pilot, he dropped off a lineman on top of a power line tower, to install fiber lines. The lineman completed the task and informed the pilot by radio that he was ready to be recovered from the tower. During the recovery, the pilot hovered next to the tower and signaled to the lineman that he was ready for him to transfer from the tower to the left skid of the helicopter. When the lineman reached out to attach his lanyard to the helicopter, the pilot felt the main rotor blades strike the fiber line that was just installed. The helicopter remained controllable and the pilot made a precautionary landing without recovering the lineman. After discussing the event with the lineman, the fiber line was raised to a higher position on the tower prior to the recovery of the lineman. Upon returning to base, a post-accident examination of the helicopter revealed that the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the main rotor blades. The pilot reported that the accident could have been prevented by assessing each approach and landing individually, while looking for any possible new hazards or obstructions. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N900FF
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas Heli 369 (FF)
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0100FF
- Built
- 1994
- Airframe hours
- 5,509.1
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250C30, 650 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- External load · Part 133
- Operator
- Northwest Helicopters LLC
- Registered owner
- Northwest Helicopters LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 8, 2018
- Departed
- Palmas Del Mar, PR
- Destination
- Yabucoa, PR
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device
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
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2
- Last flight review
- July 31, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 16,564 total · 4,227 in this make and model · 15,358 as pilot in command · 172 in the last 90 days · 37 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,800 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 77 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- TJNR, 18 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 27, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.