Agusta A109E N911UF

Summary

On 6 March 2009 at about 01:10 local time, a Agusta A109E registered N911UF, operated by Air Methods Corp, was involved in an incident near Gainesville, Florida, United States. 4 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 March 2009 at 01:10

Classification

Incident

Location

Gainesville, Florida, United States

Coordinates

29.6347, -82.4239

Aircraft

Agusta A109E

Registration

N911UF

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Air Methods Corp

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Trenton → Gainesville

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA09IA186

1 person had minor injuries.

An inadvertent in-flight collision with a duck.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a nighttime helicopter patient transfer, while the helicopter was descending through 800 feet at 145 knots, a duck impacted the windshield. The windshield shattered, and a number of switches and circuit breakers on the pilot’s overhead panel were broken, while others were turned off. The engine throttles were not affected. The pilot maintained control of the helicopter and landed it without further incident. Analysis of windshield fracture surfaces revealed that they were typical of overstress with bending deformations. There was no forward shielding of the overhead panel switches and throttles.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.