- Date
- December 18, 1988, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Linwood, KS
- Injuries
- 4 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5012JBell 206L-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881218054619A
- Case key
- 34737
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
Poor in-flight planning and decision, inadequate visual lookout, and clearance not attained by the pilot in command.
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 said that after completing an EMS mission, while enroute back to the home base, he thought he saw smoke on the ground, and decided to make a closer, visual check. Cruising initially at 1000 AGL, he began a cruise descent to better inspect the smoke. The helicopter struck power lines about 60 feet AGL. An emergency autorotation was attempted and a hard landing was made in a shallow river.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5012J
- Reported as
- Bell 206L-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 45210
- Airframe hours
- 4,382
- Engine
- Allison 250-C28B, 435 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- St Louis Helicopter Arwys Inc, doing business as Life-Star (Ems)
- Registered owner
- St. Louis Heli. Airways, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · December 13, 1988 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- Merriam, KS
- Destination
- FOE · Topeka, KS
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 41
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 8,222 total · 342 in this make and model · 7,568 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TOP, 30 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.