- Date
- September 11, 2014, 11:09 local (17:09 UTC)
- Place
- Moab, UT
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N142MABell 407
- Defining event
- Landing: Dynamic rollover
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 5, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20140911016599A
- Case key
- 90066
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 ensure adequate clearance from terrain while landing on sloped terrain.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The helicopter had been dispatched to pickup and transport two ground crew members to a new location. The pilot positioned the helicopter with the front skids into up sloping terrain when the main rotor blades impacted a large boulder. The helicopter pitched back, rolled onto its right side, and slid down the hill before it came to a rest. During the accident sequence, the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The helicopter had been dispatched to pickup and transport two ground crew members to a new location. The pilot positioned the helicopter with the front skids into up sloping terrain when the main rotor blades impacted a large boulder. The helicopter pitched back, rolled onto its right side, and slid down the hill before it came to a rest. During the accident sequence, the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N142MA
- Reported as
- Bell 407
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 53123
- Built
- 1996
- Airframe hours
- 5,346
- Engine
- Rolls Royce 250 SER, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- External load · Part 133
- Operator
- Minuteman Aviation Inc
- Registered owner
- Minuteman Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 20, 2014 · 39 hours before
- Departed
- Moab, UT
- Destination
- Moab, UT
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
- 34
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 7, 2014
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,656 total · 165 in this make and model · 3,656 as pilot in command · 135 in the last 90 days · 48 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- CNY, 18 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 24, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.