- Date
- November 26, 1993, 08:20 local (16:20 UTC)
- Place
- Sublimity, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N59366Hiller UH-12D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 13, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19931126049159A
- Case key
- 41859
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 unmarked transmission wires. Factors include the pilot's inadequate visual lookout, and unmarked wires in the area of operation.
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 aircraft was lifting trees from a field to a nearby truck and collided with wires while lifting off with the second load. The pilot had looked the field over prior to lifting his first load, but he failed to see the wires.
Factual narrative
On November 26, 1993, approximately 0820 Pacific standard time (PST), a Hiller UH-12D helicopter, N59366, collided with a power line near Sublimity, Oregon. The commercial pilot was not injured, but the helicopter sustained substantial damage. The FAR Part 133 external load flight, which was operating in visual meteorological conditions, was hauling Christmas trees to a nearby truck at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, who had already picked up one load of trees, he inadvertently allowed the main rotor to contact some unseen wires while lifting off with his second load. The pilot said that he had looked the area over from the air prior to picking up the first load, but he did not notice the wires he ultimately contacted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N59366
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1069
- Airframe hours
- 14,063
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 133
- Registered owner
- Mid-Valley Helicopter Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 5, 1993 · 57 hours before
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
- 47
- Certificates
- Private, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,790 total · 2,500 in this make and model · 3,560 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 27 °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 N59366 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.