Eurocopter France AS350BA N410JC

Summary

On 30 December 2004 at about 19:43 local time, a Eurocopter France AS350BA registered N410JC was involved in an accident near Panamint Spring, California, United States. 3 people were on board and one died, 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 December 2004 at 19:43

Classification

Accident

Location

Panamint Spring, California, United States

Coordinates

36.3456, -117.5044

Aircraft

Eurocopter France AS350BA

Registration

N410JC

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Panamint Spring → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05FA056

1 person died.

The pilot's misjudged lateral distance from a mountainside and failure to maintain an adequate clearance from terrain and obstacles while performing a low altitude filming maneuver.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter's main rotor blades impacted a mountainside while the pilot's right rear seated cameraman was filming an automobile for a television commercial. During the impact sequence, the tips of the main rotor blades were severed, and then the helicopter crashed onto the underlying state highway. Blade tip fragments were found on the mountainside, about 246 feet from where the main wreckage came to rest against the highway's guardrail. The pilot indicated that while following the film director's requested route he maneuvered at a low altitude over the two-lane highway that was bordered on one side by a drop-off and a rising cliff like face on the other side. While proceeding in an easterly direction, the road curved to the south with the upsloping mountain side located adjacent to the south side of the road. The cameraman's video camera was recovered from the wreckage, and the Safety Board's Vehicle Recorder Division in Washington, D.C. extracted the videotape. The audio and video images clearly showed the helicopter's maneuvering during the seconds leading up to and including the accident, in addition to the pilot's broadcast instructions to the car's driver to proceed "faster if you can." The pilot was flying from the right seat and the helicopter was about 20 feet above the highway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.