Bell UH-1H N525BM

Summary

On 7 September 2000 at about 13:05 local time, a Bell UH-1H registered N525BM was involved in an accident near Waynesville, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 September 2000 at 13:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Waynesville, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.4381, -83.0606

Aircraft

Bell UH-1H

Registration

N525BM

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Franklin → Waynesville

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA00GA264

2 people died.

An in-flight encounter with ground level fog due to the pilot's decision to continue VMC flight into instrument conditions, resulting in an in-flight collision with trees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to a witness, N525BM, operated by the North Carolina Forest Service, departed Macon County Airport, Franklin, North Carolina, on September 7, 2000, about 0850 into visual flight rules weather. The FAA flight service stations had been promulgating "Airmet Sierra" warning of low ceilings and mountain obscurations for the Franklin/Waynesville area from 2000 of the night of September 6, 2000, to 1000 of the morning of September 7. The flight followed highway 23/74 to Sylva, continuing toward Waynesville's Haywood County Mountain Research Station where the rotorcraft, its onboard fire fighting equipment, and crew were to serve as a static display for school children. About 5 minutes out, the pilot radioed the Haywood County Forest Ranger who had the landing zone secured for his arrival that he would put the rotorcraft down and wait for unexpected fog to lift. Residents in West Waynesville saw and heard the rotorcraft try to pick its way in very heavy ground fog. The rotorcraft collided with trees in mountainous terrain south of West Waynesville at the 4,400-foot level. Examination at the crash site and factory examinations of the engine and rotor mast revealed no precrash mechanical malfunctions. Use of over-the-counter pharmaceutical compounds of cold and allergy medicines were found in toxicological testing of specimens of the pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.