- Date
- November 22, 2002, 09:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Longview, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N82WBell 212
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 13, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FSDO
- FAA report
- 20021122031969A
- Case key
- 56126
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 clearance from trees while landing. A contributing factor was trees.
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
According to the operator, the pilot was landing the helicopter, equipped with a long-line and external fertilizer bucket, at a heliport located approximately 2 miles from the departure point. The operator reported that the pilot made a normal external load approach (from the northeast) and landed the bucket from a hover. After landing the bucket, ground crew personnel directed the pilot to reposition it forward of its present position due to the buckets proximity to a tree stump. After repositioning the bucket to the requested location, the pilot maneuvered the helicopter laterally and started a descent for landing. During the descent, the helicopter's main rotor blades made contact with treetops.
Factual narrative
On November 22, 2002, about 0900 Pacific standard time, a Bell 212 helicopter, N82W sustained substantial damage following a main rotor blade strike while landing at a helipad 20 miles east of Longview, Washington. Weyerhaeuser Company owns the helicopter, and it was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) repositioning flight under the provisions of Title 14, CFR Part 137, when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot was not injured, and company flight tracking procedures were in effect.
According to the operator, the pilot was landing the helicopter, equipped with a long-line and external fertilizer bucket, at a heliport located approximately 2 miles from the departure point. The operator reported that the pilot made a normal external load approach (from the northeast) and landed the bucket from a hover. After landing the bucket, ground crew personnel directed the pilot to reposition it forward of its present position due to the buckets proximity to a tree stump. After repositioning the bucket to the requested location, the pilot maneuvered the helicopter laterally and started a descent for landing. During the descent, the helicopter's main rotor blades made contact with treetops and the pilot terminated the landing. Subsequent to the landing attempt, the pilot again repositioned the fertilizer bucket back to the original landing location, about 30 feet to the right, and landed without further incident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N82W
- Reported as
- Bell 212
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 31177
- Airframe hours
- 7,640
- Engines
- Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 T-3B, 1,800 horsepower, turbo shaftPratt & Whitney Canada PT6 T-3B, 1,800 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 137
- Operator
- Weyerhaeuser Co
- Registered owner
- Weyerhaeuser Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · November 9, 2002 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- Longview, WA
- Destination
- Longview, WA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 45
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2
- Last flight review
- December 6, 2001
- Flight hours
- 10,874 total · 4,653 in this make and model · 9,714 as pilot in command · 106 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.92 inHg
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 N82W · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.