Bell 407 N407SH

Summary

On 19 August 2006 at about 17:55 local time, a Bell 407 registered N407SH, operated by Silver State Helicopters, was involved in an accident near Havre, Montana, United States. One person was 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

19 August 2006 at 17:55

Classification

Accident

Location

Havre, Montana, United States

Coordinates

48.1903, -114.3797

Aircraft

Bell 407

Registration

N407SH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Silver State Helicopters

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Havre → Havre

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA06CA165

Nobody was injured.

The pilot inadvertently allowing the helicopter to enter into a vortex ring state (settling with power) condition while he was lowering a long-line load to the ground, resulting in the helicopter settling to the ground and its tail rotor impacting part of the rigging used to haul the load. Factors include the long-line load and its rigging sitting on the ground at the point where the helicopter settled to the terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who was approaching an area where he was going to place a long-line load onto the terrain, inadvertently allowed the helicopter to enter into a vortex ring state (settling with power) condition, resulting in his inability to keep the helicopter from descending at a rate that resulted in it hitting the ground and bouncing back into the air. At the point in time when it contacted the ground with its skids, the helicopter's tail rotor impacted a portion of the rigging for the load that it had been hauling, which resulted in substantial damage to the tail rotor and the tail rotor drive shaft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.