Aerospatiale AS 365 N-2 N291LL

Summary

On 27 December 2003 at about 22:45 local time, a Aerospatiale AS 365 N-2 registered N291LL, operated by Aerowest Helicopters, Inc., was involved in an accident near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 December 2003 at 22:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Fe Municipal (SAF)

Coordinates

35.6167, -106.0881

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS 365 N-2

Registration

N291LL

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Aerowest Helicopters, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Fe → Santa Fe

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN04LA033

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to maintain lateral clearance from the hangar. A contributing factor was the gusty crosswind.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The wind was from "270 degrees at 16 knots with gusts unknown" when the pilot landed on the runway. He then ground taxied towards a maintenance hangar. He described his ground taxi speed as "a fast walk pace." As the helicopter passed between two sets of hangars, "high velocity winds from the left (270 degrees)...lifted the left wheel off the ground." He applied left cyclic control and left tail rotor control that brought the helicopter off centerline to the left. He maneuvered the helicopter and focused on the same corner of the hangar "as I always did" when parking. "As soon as I was starting to use right pedal, the [main rotor] blades impacted the hangar door," and the "torque of the blades pulled the aircraft nose around into the hangar door, causing [the helicopter] to land on its left side."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.