- Date
- August 12, 1992, 16:10 local (23:10 UTC)
- Place
- Maxwell, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Other
- Aircraft
- N58425Hughes 369D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920812031189A
- Case key
- 27456
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 failure of the pilot to maintain an adequate visual outlook, and failure of the company to provide adequate training. Contributing to the accident was: inadequate company supervision during the operation, and inadequate surveillance by the FAA which failed to detect the inadequate training of the pilot.
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 a powerline transmission tower while towing cable attached by means of a cargo hook. The helicopter was moving laterally toward the tower when it hit the tower with the m/r blades. The blade tip weight separated and penetrated the tail boom in two places, damaging the t/r drive shaft. The helicopter spun twice to the right in a slow descent tethered by the steel cable. During the second turn, parts of the t/r separated. Witnesses did not observe the cable being jettisoned. The pilot was newly hired, and did not have any prior class c external load experience. He had received training by the company chief pilot, who then left the company 3 days after the pilot was hired, leaving the pilot to work alone. The FAA office holding the operator's certificate had been notified of the chief pilot's departure. The office did not, nor was it required to, notify the local FAA district office of the operator's external load operations within that office's geographic responsibility.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N58425
- Reported as
- Hughes 369D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1090 591 D
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 133
- Operator
- Colorado Helicopters, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Colorado Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 21, 1992
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,152 total · 181 in this make and model · 4,031 as pilot in command · 81 in the last 90 days · 81 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 104 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.