- Date
- April 4, 1983, 15:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Red Rock, AZ
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N302PSBell 206L-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830404011119A
- Case key
- 23443
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
Reportedly, the plt elected to land in a mountainous area in calm wind conditions. At an estimated distance of 350 ft & an alt of aprx 75 ft above the touchdown zone, the nose of the helicopter began a gradual left turn as the plt applied collective pitch. At about the same time, he noted that the turbine outlet temp (tot) was rising & the main rotor RPM was decaying. There was a deep gorge ahead, so he made a left cyclic turn & lowered the collective in an attempt to reach a clearing. As he attempted to stabilize the helicopter, it started to rotate to the right & the rotor low RPM warning light came on. Subsequently, the helicopter settled into a juniper tree & rolled over onto its side. The air temp & elevation of the crash site were 24 deg fahrenheit & 7150 ft, respectively. A functional test of the eng revealed that it would operate within its limits. The control continuity could not be estimated due to separation of the tail boom push-pull tube. Reportedly, the main rotor & eng RPM needles had remained joined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N302PS
- Reported as
- Bell 206L-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 45731
- Airframe hours
- 672
- Engine
- Allison 250-C28B, 500 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Arizona Public Service
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 27, 1983 · 68 hours before
- Departed
- Farmington, NM
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 7,836 total · 662 in this make and model · 7,119 as pilot in command · 110 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 25 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.