- Date
- August 16, 2005, 17:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Donnelly, ID
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N500FUHughes 369E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 62259
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 of a tree during a landing attempt due to loss of visibility from a self induced brown-out condition. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to identify a hazardous landing site, and the tree.
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 he had landed at the site several times before, but that much construction work had been done since his last visit. He said that as he descended to his landing zone, the main rotor downwash from his helicopter created "brown-out" visibility conditions. He floated past his landing spot and the helicopter's main rotor struck a tree. The pilot said that pieces of the main blades subsequently damaged the vertical and horizontal stabilizer, and the tail rotor was damaged.
Factual narrative
On August 16, 2005, at approximately 1715 mountain daylight time, a Hughes 369E, N500FU, was substantially damaged when the main rotor blade impacted a tree during a landing attempt near Donnelly, Idaho. The commercial pilot and his three passengers were not injured. Heliflite LLC, Boise, Idaho, was operating the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal cross-country flight which had originated 1 hour 15 minutes before the event. A flight plan had not been filed.
The pilot said that he had landed at the site several times before, but that much construction work had been done since his last visit. He said that as he descended to his landing zone, the main rotor downwash from his helicopter created "brown-out" visibility conditions. He floated past his landing spot and the helicopter's main rotor struck a tree. The pilot said that pieces of the main blades subsequently damaged the vertical and horizontal stabilizer, and the tail rotor was damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N500FU
- Reported as
- Hughes 369E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0199E
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Heliflite LLC.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- EUL · Caldwell, ID
- Destination
- NONE · Donnelly, ID
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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 1, 2005
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 356 total · 128 in this make and model · 356 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- MYL, 15 nm away
Other investigations on N500FU · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.