Eurocopter AS350B3 N172AE

Summary

On 2 October 2008 at about 01:40 local time, a Eurocopter AS350B3 registered N172AE, operated by United States Customs and Border Protection, was involved in an accident near Blaine, Washington, United States. 2 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

2 October 2008 at 01:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Blaine, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Blaine Municipal Airport (4W6)

Coordinates

48.9900, -122.7322

Aircraft

Eurocopter AS350B3

Registration

N172AE

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

United States Customs and Border Protection

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bellingham → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

WPR09TA001

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain main rotor rpm, which resulted in a hard landing. Contributing to the accident were the flight instructor's delayed remedial action and inadequate supervision of the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an annual helicopter proficiency evaluation flight, the flight instructor told the commercial pilot to conduct manual governor operations and the flight instructor then positioned the governor switch from "auto" to "man" while on the downwind leg to the runway. After performing a left 360-degree turn, the commercial pilot initiated a normal approach to the runway with the intention of performing a run-on landing. The commercial pilot stated that as the helicopter descended through 20 feet above ground level (agl), he attempted to increase throttle and collective to arrest the rate of descent when it "felt like the bottom fell out" and the helicopter landed hard on the asphalt runway surface in a slight nose high attitude. The flight instructor reported that he heard the aural low rotor RPM horn sound and noticed the rotor RPM was slowing through 350 rpm as the helicopter was descending through about 20 feet agl. The instructor stated that before he could react to correct the situation the helicopter struck the ground. Examination of the helicopter by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the tail boom was partially bent and one of the main rotor blades was damaged. No preimpact mechanical anomalies with the helicopter were reported by either pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.