Bell BH-222-U N224LL

Summary

On 28 July 2000 at about 16:40 local time, a Bell BH-222-U registered N224LL was involved in an accident near St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 July 2000 at 16:40

Classification

Accident

Location

St. Paul, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Riverside Hospital (9MN4)

Coordinates

44.9492, -93.0904

Aircraft

Bell BH-222-U

Registration

N224LL

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI00LA230

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's inadequate preflight and improper vertical takeoff and not obtaining clearance from helicopter pad light. Factors included the tailwind takeoff and the helipad light.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The hospital helicopter pad security video camera showed the helicopter had flown into the wind during the approach to hovering over the helicopter pad. A hover turn was used to place the left side of the helicopter nearest to the patient ramp. The helicopter then landed on the pad. The shadow of the windsock seen on the video recording indicated the wind was from the direction aft of the helicopter when the helicopter landed on the pad. The helicopter started to lift off the helicopter pad when the tailrotor struck the helicopter pad light that was below the tailrotor. The aft portion of the helicopter's skids were still on the deck of the helicopter pad, or very nearly still on the deck of the helicopter pad, when the tailrotor struck the lighting fixture. The helicopter yawed to right about 30 degrees and the weight of the helicopter settled back down on the helicopter's skid. The main rotor and tail rotor blades came to a complete stop about 10 seconds after the tailrotor hit the light fixture. The top of the light fixture measured about 19 inches in height. The surface weather observation recorded at MSP at 1109 cdt indicated the winds were 020 degrees at 10 knots. The surface weather observation recorded at MSP at 1153 cdt indicated the winds were 010 degrees at 12 knots gusting to 17 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.