- Date
- January 26, 2000, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Five Points, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N68024Hiller UH-12E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 2, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000126000629A
- Case key
- 48554
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 inadequate clearance while maneuvering beneath a telephone line.
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
The pilot took off from a loading truck for the second time with the intention of spraying a nearby field. En route, he flew over a road and maneuvered beneath a telephone line that was suspended between 25 and 30 feet above the ground. The helicopter's tail rotor contacted the line and he lost control. The helicopter spun around and impacted the ground.
Factual narrative
On January 26, 2000, about 1330 hours Pacific standard time, a Hiller UH-12E, N68024, operated by Huron Ag Helicopters, Huron, California, collided with a wire while maneuvering during an aerial application flight approximately 5 miles south of Five Points, California. The flight was being performed under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 137. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter was substantially damaged, and the commercial pilot was not injured. The flight originated from Huron about 1300.
According to the pilot, he took off from a loading truck for the second time with the intention of spraying a nearby field. He flew over a road and maneuvered beneath a telephone line. The helicopter's tail rotor contacted the line and he lost control. The helicopter spun around and impacted the ground.
The Federal Aviation Administration coordinator estimated that the impacted wire had been suspended 25 to 30 feet above ground level. Both of the helicopter's tail rotor blades were severed, and other structural damaged resulted when the helicopter impacted the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N68024
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1741
- Airframe hours
- 3,080
- Engine
- Lycoming VO540C2A, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Huron Ag Helicopters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 12, 1999 · 47 hours before
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
- 57
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 9,000 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- NLC, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N68024 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.