- Date
- January 9, 2021, 12:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Winthrop, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8612FHughes 369D
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Tailstrike
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210109012779A
- Case key
- 102514
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 adequately monitor the environment which resulted in a collision with a snowbank and subsequent loss of control.
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 pilot reported that, while landing in a snow-covered, unimproved landing zone, the helicopter drifted rearward, the tail rotor struck a snowbank, and the helicopter began to spin to the right. The pilot reduced the throttle setting to off and applied left pedal to reduce the spin, but the helicopter drifted to the right and the right skid impacted snow. The helicopter subsequently rolled over and impacted terrain. The tailboom and the main and tail rotor drive systems were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8612F
- Reported as
- Hughes 369D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 570142D
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 21,451.2
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20R, 250 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 8, 2021 · 1.9 hours before
- Departed
- 1S2 · Darrington, WA
- Destination
- Winthrop, WA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- S52 · Methow Valley State
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, ADS-B, Satellite tracking device
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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 29, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 8,125 total · 575 in this make and model · 8,025 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 20 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.32 inHg
- Observed at
- S52, 3.1 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 1, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.5 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.