- Date
- June 30, 1990, 14:50 local (21:50 UTC)
- Place
- Glacier, WA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N101FWAerospatiale AS350B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900630023199A
- Case key
- 41114
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 NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Passenger did not follow the procedures associated with the operations in the vicinity of the helicopter.
Analysis
At the end of the flight, the pilot selected a field to land. The pilot had the front seat passenger open his door to check for ground clearance as the field was covered with 12-15 inch high grass. The passenger reported all was clear and the helicopter settled to the ground. As the rotors were stil winding down, the rear seat left side passenger exited the still open door, walked to the rear and under the tail boom. The passenger was then struck by the tail rotor. The pilot was unaware that the passenger had exited as the pilot had not given the ok to exit to the passengers. The pilot felt the helicopter shutter and heard a loud noise. The engine was then immediately shut down and the pilot and passengers exited the helicopter. The passengerrs had been briefed as to the areas to avoid around the helicopter and the passenger that exited the helicopter had been reminded at least three times during the day to stay away from the rear of the helicopter.
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N101FW
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS350B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1018
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B, 641 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Fly Wright Corp
- Departed
- Mt Baker, 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 11,500 total · 300 in this make and model · 40 in the last 90 days · 34 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.