Bell 206B N49661

Summary

On 3 July 1997 at about 19:45 local time, a Bell 206B registered N49661, operated by American Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near New Iberia, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 July 1997 at 19:45

Classification

Accident

Location

New Iberia, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

29.9995, -91.8099

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N49661

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

American Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW97LA252

1 person was seriously injured.

the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision. A related factor was his failure to follow the company procedure of maintaining visual contact with the external long-line cable, while hovering with it attached.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After loading the external basket with seismic wire bundles weighing about 300 to 400 pounds, the pilot flew the external load attached to a 100 foot long-line cable to the staging field. He made an approach to the landing area into the wind, and placed the basket on the ground; however, he did not release it. He moved the helicopter to the left side of the basket and then descended laterally to the left approximately 20 feet to a hover height of about 10 feet. As he hovered the helicopter forward about 10 to 15 feet, he felt a jolt. The helicopter nosed down to the left and came to rest on its right side. The company's procedure for repositioning the helicopter to land with an external load attached was that 'the cable must remain in visual contact with the pilot at all times.' The pilot was to 'lay the cable out in front of or to the side of the pilot position in full view of the pilot.' The pilot successfully completed a Part 133 evaluation on 6/18/97. At the time of employment, the pilot had 42 hours of experience in long-line external load operations. Since then, he had accumulated approximately 25 flight hours of additional experience.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.