Bell 206L-3 N801HM

Summary

On 26 August 2002 at about 22:30 local time, a Bell 206L-3 registered N801HM, operated by U.S. Forest Service, was involved in an accident near Saguache, Colorado, United States. 4 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 3 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

26 August 2002 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Saguache, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

38.1525, -106.3917

Aircraft

Bell 206L-3

Registration

N801HM

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

U.S. Forest Service

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Salida → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN02TA100

1 person was seriously injured.

the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning and decision making, and the loss of tail rotor effectiveness. A contributing factor was the right quartering tailwind.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that smoke coming from the forest fire indicated winds were from the east. He approached the fire from the north, circled in a counterclockwise direction, and began his approach to the landing zone from the west. On approach, the helicopter lost tail rotor effectiveness and spun to the right. A firefighter on the scene recorded the wind from the southwest at 15 knots, but this information was not relayed to the pilot. The helicopter was not equipped with a high altitude tail rotor kit.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.