Aerospatiale AS350BA N270SH

Summary

On 20 September 2003 at about 19:38 local time, a Aerospatiale AS350BA registered N270SH was involved in an accident near GrandCanyonWest, Arizona, United States. 7 people were on board and 7 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 September 2003 at 19:38

Classification

Accident

Location

GrandCanyonWest, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Grand Canyon West (1G4)

Coordinates

35.9850, -113.7933

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS350BA

Registration

N270SH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

GrandCanyonWest → Descent Canyon

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX03MA292

7 people died.

The pilot's disregard of safe flying procedures and misjudgment of the helicopter's proximity to terrain, which resulted in an in-flight collision with a canyon wall. Contributing to the accident was the failure of Sundance Helicopters and the Federal Aviation Administration to provide adequate surveillance of Sundance's air tour operations in Descent Canyon.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Brief number is NTSB/AAB-07/03. On September 20, 2003, about 1238 mountain standard time, an Aerospatiale AS350BA helicopter, N270SH, operated by Sundance Helicopters, Inc., crashed into a canyon wall while maneuvering through Descent Canyon, about 1.5 nautical miles east of Grand Canyon West Airport (1G4) in Arizona. The pilot and all six passengers on board were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The air tour sightseeing flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which was operated under visual flight rules on a company flight plan. The helicopter was transporting passengers from a helipad at 1G4 (helipad elevation 4,775 feet mean sea level [msl]) near the upper rim of the Grand Canyon to a helipad designated "the Beach" (elevation 1,300 msl) located next to the Colorado River at the floor of the Grand Canyon.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.