Bell 206L-3 N81EA

Summary

On 12 June 2005 at about 22:35 local time, a Bell 206L-3 registered N81EA, operated by New Air Helicopters, was involved in an accident near Cascade, Colorado, United States. 4 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 June 2005 at 22:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Cascade, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Durango (00C)

Coordinates

37.5850, -107.6919

Aircraft

Bell 206L-3

Registration

N81EA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

New Air Helicopters

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Durango → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN05LA089

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the attempted landing on mountainous terrain. A contributing factor was strong wind gusts during the attempted landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While attempting to land, the pilot failed to maintain aircraft control, and the helicopter impacted terrain. The pilot made three attempts to land at the intended landing zone (LZ). The first attempt to an LZ yielded too great of a slope on the terrain. The second attempt was much closer to the intended area; however, the terrain was unstable. On the third attempt, just slightly above effective translation lift (ETL), at 11,900 feet msl, the pilot executed a left orbit and located a level landing site. As he approached, he noticed some "trees were laying over" in a "very strong gust" of wind, and ETL was lost. The pilot attempted a pedal turn into the wind. The helicopter resisted an immediately turn, then it "took off to the left." The pilot applied right pedal to arrest the turn. The pilot reduced power, neutralized the pedals, and applied forward cyclic. The rate of turn accelerated and pinned the pilot back into the seat. Subsequently, the right skid and tail boom struck the terrain and the helicopter rolled over. Examination of the helicopter revealed no anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.