- Date
- June 10, 2000, 16:26 local (23:26 UTC)
- Place
- Wellington, NV
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N500XLSikorsky HH-3F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20000610011879A
- Case key
- 49406
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 encounter with a wind shear while maneuvering at low altitude in mountainous terrain, which resulted in a high descent rate and inadvertent entry into a power settling condition.
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 helicopter collided with trees when it made a forced landing under power. The helicopter was low and climbing over a ridge in mountainous terrain when it encountered wind shear and could not sustain flight. The pilot noticed a rapid airspeed fluctuation from 80 knots to 20 knots. He completed a systems check and saw the airspeed go to zero. The helicopter rapidly settled. The pilot lowered the collective, but the rpm began to seriously decay. He tried to regain rpm, but was unsuccessful. The helicopter continued to settle downhill into a canyon. The helicopter collided with trees at zero airspeed and 800-feet-per-minute rate of descent in the bottom of the canyon.
Factual narrative
On June 10, 2000, about 1230 Pacific daylight time, a Sikorsky HH-3F, N500XL, collided with trees during a forced landing into a creek bed near Wellington, Nevada. Cinema Aircraft Restorations, LLC, was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial pilot and one pilot rated passenger sustained serious injuries; the helicopter sustained substantial damage. The personal cross-country flight departed Minden, Nevada, about 1200, en route to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The operator submitted a Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2). About 30 minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed a rapid airspeed fluctuation from 80 knots to 20 knots. He completed a systems check and saw the airspeed go to zero. The helicopter rapidly settled. The pilot lowered the collective, but the rpm began to seriously decay. He tried to regain rpm, but was unsuccessful. The helicopter continued to settle downhill into a canyon. The helicopter collided with trees at zero airspeed and 800-feet-per-minute rate of descent in the bottom of the canyon.
Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the wreckage on scene and interviewed the pilot and passenger. Their investigation disclosed that the helicopter was low and climbing over a ridge in mountainous terrain when it encountered wind shear and could not sustain flight. The helicopter collided with trees when it made the forced landing under power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N500XL
- Reported as
- Sikorsky HH-3F
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1472
- Airframe hours
- 14,000
- Engine
- General Electric T58-100, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Cinema Aircraft Restorations L
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- AAIP · May 25, 2000 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- MEV · Minden, NV
- Destination
- HII · Lake Havasu, AZ
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- February 26, 1999
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 5,620 total · 140 in this make and model · 5,500 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Other flight crew
- Age
- 42
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- July 22, 1999
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,208 total · 54 in this make and model · 61 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- RNO, 55 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 26, 2004, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 264 KB 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.