Bell 407 N450AM

Summary

On 3 March 2019 at about 07:13 local time, a Bell 407 registered N450AM, operated by Air Methods Corp, was involved in an accident near Union Center, South Dakota, United States. 3 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 March 2019 at 07:13

Classification

Accident

Location

Union Center, South Dakota, United States

Coordinates

44.5647, -102.6614

Aircraft

Bell 407

Registration

N450AM

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2013

Engines

1

Operator

Air Methods Corp

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Spearfish → Union Center

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN19LA092

1 person had minor injuries.

The ambulance driver’s failure to see the helicopter’s rotating main rotor blades in dark night conditions, which resulted in the ambulance’s inadvertent collision with the helicopter. Contributing to the accident was the ambulance driver's failure to follow procedures when approaching the helicopter.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter pilot, flight nurse, and flight paramedic had arrived at a landing zone to pick up a patient at night. After landing, the pilot rolled the engine throttle to idle and briefed the flight crew that they were clear to depart the helicopter. About 20 seconds later, the ground ambulance drove toward the helicopter, and the main rotor blades impacted the top of the ambulance. The flight paramedic was thrown to the ground and sustained minor injuries. The main rotor blades, tailboom, and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The ground ambulance driver stated that he saw the crew open the doors and get out of the helicopter, so he moved the ambulance ahead to get closer to the helicopter. The driver stated that he did not realize "that the helicopter blades were still rotating." The operator confirmed that the ambulance driver had received training, which indicated that ground personnel are not to approach the helicopter until the blades had stopped rotation. In addition, the general operations manual stated that ground personnel will not come beneath the rotor disk until directed to do so by the pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.