Enstrom 280FX N280XF

Summary

On 22 November 2001 at about 19:30 local time, a Enstrom 280FX registered N280XF was involved in an accident near Tallassee, Alabama, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 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

22 November 2001 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Tallassee, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Reeves (41A)

Coordinates

32.5197, -85.8925

Aircraft

Enstrom 280FX

Registration

N280XF

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tallassee → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA02FA026

2 people died.

The failure of the pilot to maintain a safe altitude above terrain and maintain a visual lookout resulting in the helicopter colliding with power transmission lines and crashing into a river. A factor in the accident was the power transmission lines not being marked.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated he keeps the helicopter at his residence. On the day of the accident he flew to his sisters house. After dinner, he departed his sisters house, which is located about 5 miles from the accident site, with the 2 passengers. They flew around the town of Tallassee, and he then entered on the downwind leg for runway 13 at Reeves Airport. He turned on base over the Tallapoosa River, and was flying to the south. He observed a glimmer and remembers seeing power lines. The next thing he remembers is being in the river. Postcrash examination of the helicopter showed it had collided with an unmarked power transmission line, which drooped below the tree level on the river banks, to a point about 75 feet about the river. The collision occurred about midpoint in the river and the wire rapped around the main rotor mast. The main rotor system separated from the helicopter and the helicopter crashed into the river about 500 feet south of the power lines. Postcrash examination of the helicopter and engine showed no evidence of precrash failure or malfunction of the helicopter structure, flight controls, or engine. Toxicology tests performed on specimens obtained from the pilot after admission to a hospital were negative for ethanol and drugs.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.