- Date
- January 9, 1995, 17:40 local (Jan 10, 1995, 00:40 UTC)
- Place
- Glendale, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N321WNKaman HH43
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report June 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950109001209A
- Case key
- 29012
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 failure to maintain an adequate visual lookout to avoid a collision with a tree during an aerial application swath run.
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
During a cleanup run over a field, the aircraft collided with some tree branches with the right main rotor blade which resulted in a severe vibration and substantial damage to the tailboom. The pilot made a successful forced landing into a muddy field. The tree branches extended 15 to 20 feet into the field. There were no restrictions or obscuration to visibility reported by the pilot.
Factual narrative
On January 9, 1995, at 1740 mountain standard time, a Kaman HH- 43F helicopter, N321WN, collided with a tree and crashed into a field during a Part 137 aerial application flight near Glendale, Arizona. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the pilot was not injured. The aircraft departed from a private helicopter pad near Tolleson, Arizona, at 1730.
According to the pilot, he had completed spraying the field and was cleaning up the ends. On the last pass, he did not see the bare tree branches that protruded 15 to 20 feet into the field until it was too late. He stated that the right main rotor blade struck the branches which tore off the control flap to the rotor blade causing a severe vibration. The pilot immediately landed in a muddy field and shut down the engine. Examination of the helicopter by the pilot revealed that the tail booms were cracked and broken by the severe vibrations. There was no fire, fuel, or chemical spill.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N321WN
- Reported as
- Kaman HH43
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 25
- Airframe hours
- 4,933
- Engine
- Lycoming T-53-11C, 1,100 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Freeway Aviation
- Registered owner
- Pyramid Oil Co.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 1994 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- Tolleson, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 60
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 11,100 total · 952 in this make and model · 9,200 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 180° at 2 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.