# NTSB SEA96LA165: Bell 206B, N750LT, Warren, ID, July 24, 1996 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 24, 1996, 14:15 local (20:15 UTC) - Place: Warren, ID - Coordinates: 45.290256, -115.590492 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=45.2903&lon=-115.5905&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Standing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/150) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal, 2 minor - Status: Completed, report May 23, 1997 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB case key (mKey): 42427 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA96LA165 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/42427/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA96LA165 ## Probable cause the pilot's improper remedial action after helicopter's right skid became snagged by a log that was used in the construction of a temporary landing site. Factors relating to the accident were: the pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing area, inadequate construction of the landing site by ground personnel, and the ground personnel's lack of training regarding the construction of a temporary landing zone. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Miscellaneous/other, standing - engine(s) operating - airport facilities,helipad - inadequate (contributing factor) - unsuitable terrain or takeoff/landing/taxi area - selected, pilot in command (contributing factor) - inadequate training, other person (contributing factor) - terrain condition - loose objects (contributing factor) - landing gear,skid assembly - shifted - landing gear,skid assembly - snagged (cause) - Roll over, takeoff - remedial action - improper, pilot in command (cause) - qualification, pilot in command - lack of certification, company/operator management ## Analysis The helicopter airline transport pilot landed in a remote mountainous site to board two timber cutters and provide transportation. The timber cutters had constructed a helipad at the site by felling a tree, slicing it into two sections, and placing the sections about 7 feet apart from each other on sloping terrain. The forward section was secured with two pieces of round wood loosely placed on the ground, but the section could pivot on its curved side. After surveying the landing site, the pilot set the helicopter down on the two tree sections with the tip of the right skid resting on the aft edge of the forward log. The timber cutters loaded their equipment in the rear of the helicopter and boarded while it was standing with the rotors turning. The pilot stated that the forward log then began to roll aft, and the right skid shifted downward. The pilot attempted to lift the log off the right skid. The helicopter continued to nose over as the pilot added power and collective. A main rotor blade struck rising terrain in front of the helicopter, and the helicopter rolled over onto its right side. The pilot was the owner/operator of the company and had applied for authorization to conduct flight operations under 14 CFR 135. However, he was not yet FAA-certificated to conduct such flights. The cutters had received no formal training on helipad construction. ## Factual narrative On July 24, 1996, about 1415 mountain daylight time, N750LT, a Bell 206B helicopter, operated by Helicopter Support Services, Inc., Cascade, Idaho, rolled over during takeoff and was destroyed near Warren, Idaho. The commercial pilot and a passenger received minor injuries. The other passenger was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight was illegally conducted under 14 CFR 135. On the day of the accident, the accident pilot made several flights to provide transportation into and out of remote logging sites. The purpose of the accident flight was to transport two timber fallers out of a cleared logging site. According to the pilot, the pilot was shown where the site was located as he flew over it while transporting a load of timber fallers to another site earlier on the day of the accident. According to written statements (attached) submitted by the surviving passenger, he and the other passenger had located a landing zone and constructed the "heliport" in a section of forest land that they were tasked to survey. The heliport was constructed by falling a tree, cutting a "rip" from the tree, and placing the rip parallel and in front of the felled tree. Its purpose was to create "a nearly flat landing for the [helicopter]." The surviving passenger stated that the fatally injured passenger had performed the majority of the helipad construction, because the surviving passenger surveyed the area for other potential landing sites. According to the surviving passenger: "Together we moved the top Rip into position and stabilized the upper Rip. We tested the stability of the upper Rip by applying our combined weight. We were satisfied that... it would not move if landed on properly." The surviving passenger further stated: It took the pilot two tries to set down. We boarded from the [left] side and I put our gear in the cargo area. Because I was toward the rear, I started to get in the back, as I did so I noticed that the [left] skid was not clear up to the center of the ripped log that we positioned for the front skids to sit on.... when I made eye contact with [the other passenger] about the skid he showed no concern, and we boarded the 206 and buckled up. [The other passenger] and I were never in a position to see the [right] side of the 206. [The other passenger ] looked back at me and I gave him the "thumbs up" sign to let him know my door was closed and I was buckled in. The pilot applied power and nothing seemed to happen, he seemed to give it more power and the 206 tried to lift up. The rear of the 206 came up in the air and it felt like the right hand front skid was tied to the ground. I started to scream "log on your skid, log on your skid" and it felt like the rear of the 206 came up higher and the [left front] was trying to come up in the air. The right front wouldn't come up. It felt like the pilot was trying to power out of the problem. Soon the rotors struck the ground in front of us with a very loud, scary, severe noise, and was thrown on to the [right] side almost on its top. The passenger also stated that the pilot told him, immediately after the accident, that he (the pilot) had not checked the front skids after landing on the logs. According to the pilot in a written statement (attached): I assessed the size, location, and feasibility of the site as I flew over.... Upon approach to the landing site I continued to [assess] the landing site for a safe landing and anything that might be a factor in my landing.... It looked to me like a good landing zone for maneuverability. I continued a cautious, slow approach and carefully set the aircraft down on the logs. I stabilized the aircraft and maintained power to keep the aircraft completely still on the logs. I signaled the cutters outside the aircraft that the aircraft was stabilized and that they could begin loading. As they loaded their gear in the aft left cargo compartment of the aircraft, I continued to hold the aircraft absolutely still and stabilized. After securing their gear, they climbed into the aircraft. One log cutter in the left front seat and one log cutter in the left rear seat.... I asked [the front left seat passenger] if he and his partner were secure and he stated that they were and gave me a thumbs up to indicate that they were ready. At that moment, the nose of the aircraft began to pitch down towards the ground. I noticed the log that the aircraft was sitting was moving in a rolling motion towards the aircraft. At first, fearing the danger of dynamic rollover, I tried to let the aircraft settle, hoping that the skid would contact the ground and stop the downward motion.... The left front passenger yelled that the log was on top of the skid. I observed that the main rotor was going to contact the uphill slope in front of the aircraft so, as a last ditch effort I applied power and tried to pull the aircraft vertically off the log. The log was too heavy for the aircraft and the aircraft's main rotor struck the uphill slope in front of the aircraft. The aircraft then pitched up and rolled on [its] right side. The pilot also stated that the surviving passenger, immediately after the accident, asked him if the fatally injured passenger told him about "... a problem with the log on the left front...." The pilot stated that he was not told about it, and the surviving passenger responded that he told the other passenger to tell the pilot about the log prior to the flight. The helicopter, a 1975 Bell model 206B, was registered to Heartland Helicopter, Inc., Rogersville, Missouri, and was being leased back to the operator at the time of the accident. It was a two-bladed, five-place, single-engine rotorcraft. According to the helicopter manufacturer, the length of each landing skid (for the "high skid" configuration) is 8 feet 6 inches, and the main rotor arc protrudes about 6 feet directly beyond the front of the nose of the helicopter. The pilot, age 29, held an airline transport pilot certificate with ratings for helicopters, and he also held an FAA certified flight instructor certificate for instrument helicopters. According to FAA records, he was issued a First Class Medical Certificate on April 4, 1995. At the time of the accident, his Second Class Medical Certificate privileges had expired. The pilot reported that he had accumulated a total of 3,600 hours of rotorcraft flight time, including 450 hours of pilot-in-command in type. The majority of the pilot's flight time was accumulated during the pilot's 9 years of military service. The pilot stated that he routinely operated in and out of remote landing sites during his tenure with the military. The pilot left the military 3 months prior to the accident and had since accrued of 100 hours of civilian flight time. The pilot was the owner and operator of Helicopter Support Services, Inc. According to the FAA, the pilot/operator was currently applying for authorization to conduct flight operations under 14 CFR 135, and had not yet been granted the certification at the time of the accident. The pilot/operator conducted the flight under contract with another operator, Carson Helicopters, based in Jacksonville, Oregon. The fatally injured passenger, age 32, and the surviving passenger, age 31, were both employed as timber fallers for Carson Helicopters. According to Carson Helicopters, no formalized training, standardization, or written guidance related to helipad construction was in effect prior to the accident. The wreckage and surrounding accident site was examined one day after the accident by an FAA aviation safety inspector from the Boise FAA Flight Standards District Office, and a Deputy Sheriff with the Valley County Sheriff's Office (report attached). The he ## Aircraft - Registration: [N750LT](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N750LT-2018-01-26), registration cancelled 2018-01-26, S/N 1767, built 1975 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Bell 206B - Registry model: [Bell 206B](https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206b) (registry code 1181511) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Allison 250-C20 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/allison-250-c20-series) (registry code 03020, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Helicopter - Serial number: 1767 - Engines: Allison 250-C20 317 horsepower turbo shaft - Damage: Destroyed - Flight: Part 135 - Operator: Helicopter Support Services - Registered owner: Heartland Helicopter - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Destination: PONY CREEK, ID ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 29; military, commercial, flight instructor, airline transport; instrument ratings: helicopter; medical: class 2, expired; seat: right; toxicology performed; flight hours: 3,600 total, 500 in this make and model, 2,900 as pilot in command, 54 in the last 90 days, 50 in the last 30 days, 3 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: calm - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 63 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19960724019719A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960724019719A), Jul 24, 1996: Bell 206B, Central, ID, No damage, 1 fatal. Performing logging operations, crashed. ## Other investigations on N750LT (2) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB NYC90LA187](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/NYC90LA187), Aug 4, 1990: Bell 206B (N750LT), Fitchburg, MA, substantial damage. Probable cause: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ASSURE THAT ADEQUATE FUEL WAS ON BOARD FOR THE FLIGHT. - [NTSB MIA76FKT32](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA76FKT32), Nov 26, 1975: Bell 206B (N750LT), Delray Beach, FL, destroyed From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.