- Date
- June 16, 1992, 10:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Shelburne Falls, MA
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1041BBell 47-G4A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920616020669A
- Case key
- 37063
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 adequate obstacle clearance. Contributing was inadequate altitude.
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 was flying low for the purpose of allowing the two passengers to observe their company's fiber optic cables. One of the passengers was taking a video of the cables during the flight. The video tape was recovered from the wreckage and shows the helicopter in controlled flight, at an altitude of about 100 to 150 feet AGL. The video tape shows power lines coming into view, running perpendicular to the flight path, the subsequent wire strike and then the loss of control prior to impact into a river that ran parallel to the flight path. When the wires came into view on the video tape the pilot took no evasive action in order to change altitude or the helicopter's flight path to avoid contact with the wires.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1041B
- Reported as
- Bell 47-G4A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 7653
- Airframe hours
- 5,846
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540B1B3, 305 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Yves Gosselin, doing business as Belchertown Aviation
- Registered owner
- Yves Gosselin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 23, 1991 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Belchertown, MA
- Destination
- 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
- 38
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 810 total · 775 in this make and model · 698 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1041B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.