Eurocopter AS350 N911AA

Summary

On 31 March 2013 at about 07:20 local time, a Eurocopter AS350 registered N911AA, operated by State of Alaska, was involved in an accident near Talkeetna, Alaska, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 March 2013 at 07:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Talkeetna, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

62.3214, -149.9339

Aircraft

Eurocopter AS350

Registration

N911AA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

State of Alaska

Operating rule

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Talkeetna → Talkeetna

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ANC13GA036

3 people died.

The pilot's decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into deteriorating weather conditions, which resulted in the pilot's spatial disorientation and loss of control. Also causal was the Alaska Department of Public Safety's punitive culture and inadequate safety management, which prevented the organization from identifying and correcting latent deficiencies in risk management and pilot training. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's exceptionally high motivation to complete search and rescue missions, which increased his risk tolerance and adversely affected his decision-making.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-14/03. On March 30, 2013, at 2320 Alaska daylight time, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter, N911AA, impacted terrain while maneuvering during a search and rescue (SAR) flight near Talkeetna, Alaska. The airline transport pilot, an Alaska state trooper serving as a flight observer for the pilot, and a stranded snowmobiler who had requested rescue were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact and postcrash fire. The helicopter was registered to and operated by the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) as a public aircraft operations flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed in the area at the time of the accident. The flight originated at 2313 from a frozen pond near the snowmobiler's rescue location and was destined for an off-airport location about 16 mi south.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.