Aerospatiale AS350BA N911NT

Summary

On 23 September 2001 at about 03:05 local time, a Aerospatiale AS350BA registered N911NT was involved in an accident near Chico, California, United States. 3 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 September 2001 at 03:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Chico, California, United States

Coordinates

39.7347, -121.8503

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS350BA

Registration

N911NT

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Chico → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX01LA304

1 person died.

the pilot's inadequate in-flight decision and delay in initiating a go-around during an encounter with brown out conditions, which led to his failure to maintain alignment of the helicopter with the intended go-around flight path and a resulting collision with trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a steep approach to a confined landing zone, the helicopter encountered a brown out condition due to dust and dirt clouds formed by the rotor downwash, and the helicopter collided with trees during an attempted go-around. After circling the landing area twice the pilot approached the landing zone from the west to the east. Ground witnesses and the onboard flight nurses said the approach was completely normal until the helicopter neared the ground. About 30 feet above the ground there was a dirt/dust condition created from the helicopter's rotor blades and the witnesses lost sight of the helicopter. One flight nurse, who was using night vision goggles to assist the pilot with ensuring that the landing zone was clear, told investigators that as the dust cloud formed their outside vision was completely obscured. The flight nurse asked the pilot if he could see anything, but the pilot did not respond. The medical crew estimated that the pilot started to go around about 15 feet above the ground, and during the go-around the helicopter drifted about 90 feet to the south and impacted trees. Witnesses recalled hearing the engine power up and then heard the helicopter impact trees. During the engine power up and go-around, no problems were heard with the engine. The on board medical crew said that they did not perceive any mechanical difficulties with the helicopter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.