- Date
- June 23, 1982, 01:26 local (08:26 UTC)
- Place
- Dardanelle, CA
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N6456Aerospatiale SA-316B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 23, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820623024669A
- Case key
- 70405
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 modesto, CA on a medivac flight to pick up a victim that was injured in an automobile accident. A nurse and a medical technician were on board. Spotlights on vehicles were used to illuminate the landing area as well as high surrounding trees. After circling about 3 times, the helicopter struck a tree about 134 ft AGL while in a descending left turn. The main rotor blades remain lodge in the tree and the helicopter came to rest about 30 ft from the tree.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6456
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale SA-316B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1849
- Airframe hours
- 2,352
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARTOUSIE IIIB, 850 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Continental Helicopters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Whirlybirds, Inc.
- Departed
- Modesto, CA
- Destination
- Dillon, MT
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 13,795 total · 5,600 in this make and model · 11,120 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Temperature
- 140 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.