Boeing Helicopters Div 369D N58377

Summary

On 23 February 2001 at about 19:00 local time, a Boeing Helicopters Div 369D registered N58377, operated by Air #2, LLC, was involved in an accident near Inverness, Mississippi, United States. 2 people were on board and one died. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 February 2001 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Inverness, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Indianola (IDL)

Coordinates

33.3500, -90.5904

Aircraft

Boeing Helicopters Div 369D

Registration

N58377

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Air #2, LLC

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lz 397 → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA01LA084

1 person died.

The lineman's failure to use the designed attachment point for securing his safety harness to the helicopter, resulting in overload and failure of the component he did attach to. A factor in the accident was the lineman's failure to follow exact sequential procedures for performing the in-flight transfer from rotorcraft to structure, resulting in his being dragged off the structure by the retreating rotorcraft.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter is configured with an external horizontal platform mounted adjacent to the left loading door, between the fuselage and the skids, for use during in-flight transfer of a lineman from aircraft to structure during inspections of high tension transmission line supports. The exact procedures for the in-flight lineman transfer call for the helicopter-to-structure static electricity grounding cable to be clamped to the structure prior to the actual transfer. By design, the ground cable clamping is the very first procedural task and the unclamping is the very last procedural task. When the pilot sees the cable and clamp returned to its holding pouch on the platform, that is his cue to back the helicopter away from the structure. In this particular occurrence, the procedural tasks got out of sequence, and when the pilot saw the ground cable and clamp in its pouch, he backed the rotorcraft away. The lineman, still tethered to the rotorcraft, was pulled off the structure, and the lineman's choice of safety tether attachment point on the rotorcraft gave way under his weight, causing the fatal fall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.