McDonnell Douglas 369FF N16031

Summary

On 2 June 1998 at about 22:10 local time, a McDonnell Douglas 369FF registered N16031, operated by Winco, was involved in an accident near Shoshone, Idaho, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, 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

2 June 1998 at 22:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Shoshone, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas 369FF

Registration

N16031

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Winco

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gooding → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA98FA084

1 person died.

Failure to maintain clearance from wires. A transmission wire was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses reported that the helicopter had just released from positioning a fiber optic cable on top of a power pole. An external line is hung over the left landing skid, forward of the front leg, and a shoe is used to cradle the cable to lift and position it in place for permanent attachment. A lineman was on the pole and in the process of permanently attaching the cable to the pole when the pilot maneuvered the helicopter away and behind the lineman about five feet. Another lineman was standing on the left side landing skid and was then going to install vibration dampers on the cable. The lineman on the pole stated that everything was normal when he heard what sounded like a clicking sound or a sound like a card in a spoked wheel. The lineman on the pole stated that he knew that the helicopter was in the wires and saw pieces of the helicopter flying. The lineman ducked down on the pole, and when he looked up again, the helicopter had already gone through the transmission wires and was laying on its right side on the ground. Impact signatures of a cable strike were found on both tailrotor blades. The cable that the helicopter was positioned next to was severed. Further inspection of the severed cable noted that 19 of the 22 strands that make up the fiber optic cable received varying amounts of mechanical damage prior to failure. During the post-crash wreckage documentation and inspection, no evidence was found to indicate a mechanical failure or malfunction.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.