Bell 47G-5 N1476W

Summary

On 7 August 1985 at about 14:15 local time, a Bell 47G-5 registered N1476W was involved in an accident near Pickett, Wisconsin, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

7 August 1985 at 14:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Pickett, Wisconsin, United States

Coordinates

43.9096, -88.7304

Aircraft

Bell 47G-5

Registration

N1476W

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ripon → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI85LA338

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE FLD WHERE THIS ACCIDENT OCCURRED HAD BEEN SPRAYED ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT BY A FIXED-WING ACFT AT AN ALT OF 20 FT. NO WIRES WERE NOTED TO BE A HAZARD AT THAT TIME. ON THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT THE PLT OF THE HELICOPTER WAS TALKING TO A SPOTTER ON THE GROUND VIA RADIO. NEITHER PERSON NOTICED THE POWER LINES CROSSING ONE END OF A SMALL SECTION OF THE CORN FLD. THE HELICOPTER STRUCK THE WIRES ON HIS FIRST PASS. THEY BECAME ENTANGLED IN HIS ROTOR CONTROL RODS AND THE MACHINE SETTLED TO THE GROUND. THE PLT STATED THAT THE REASON NEITHER HE NOR HIS SPOTTER SAW THE WIRES WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE STRUNG IN A NON-STANDARD MANNER IN THAT THE NON-SUPPORTED SPAN OF WIRE WAS EXCESSIVE. THE WIRES DROOPED TO 7 FT ABOVE THE CORN. ALSO THERE WERE NO GUY WIRES OR TRANSFORMERS ON THE POLES TO INDICATE A POWER LINE ARRAY. THIS PLT HAS OVER 5600 HOURS OF AERIAL APPLICATION FLYING TIME IN HIS LOGBOOK.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.