Bell 407 N9HE

Summary

On 2 March 2001 at about 19:00 local time, a Bell 407 registered N9HE was involved in an accident near Jackson, Wyoming, 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

2 March 2001 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Jackson, Wyoming, United States

Coordinates

43.4691, -110.7592

Aircraft

Bell 407

Registration

N9HE

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jackson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN01LA060

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate lateral and vertical clearance during landing. Factors were the clouds and snow-covered high terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the helicopter was looking for a group of people to be picked up at a designated point. Flying over the location, he realized that they had not yet arrived, so he decided to land at an alternate location and await their arrival. He had landed at the alternate location previously but not on the day of the accident. He said the visibility was good, but there were no shadows due to the overcast. The approach was normal, and the pilot used a small pine tree to the right front quarter of the helicopter as a reference point. As the helicopter touched down, the pilot heard a loud noise and the helicopter yawed. Believing there had been a mechanical failure, the pilot lowered the collective control and closed the throttle. Postaccident inspection revealed there had not been a mechanical failure. Rather, the pilot had not seen the snow covered slope to the left front quarter of the helicopter. The main rotor blades struck the surface of the ground and the helicopter settled into deep snow. The transmission separated from its mounts, the main rotor blades were destroyed, and the tail boom was severed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.