Bell 407 N702WP
21 September 2005 · Inyokern, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 21 September 2005 at about 17:07 local time, a Bell 407 registered N702WP was involved in an accident near Inyokern, California, 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.
The record
- Date
- at 17:07
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Inyokern, California, United States
- Nearest airport
- Inyokern (KIYK)
- Coordinates
- 35.7714, -117.9131
- Aircraft
- Bell 407
- Registration
- N702WP
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Van Nuys → Inyokern
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX05TA306
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
The pilot failed to maintain tail rotor clearance from obstacles during landing.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The helicopter's tail rotor struck a rock outcropping during a confined landing at a remote mountain site. The pilot was moving two surveyors up the side of the southern slope of a mountain canyon. He dropped the surveyors off at a small saddle on a ridge, and departed to locate the next site upslope. He found a rocky outcropping that he thought would be a good landing site, and made one approach, but did not like the location due to uneven terrain. He then hovered over to another site a few yards away and proceeded to land. During the landing the tail rotor made contact with a small rock outcropping. Feeling the contact he proceeded to execute a successful autorotative landing from a hover.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Bell 407 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Apr 2005 | Bell 407 | La Primavera, Mexico | Helivan | Fatal | 1 |
| 21 Mar 2004 | Bell 407 | Pyote, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 4 |
| 5 Jun 2006 | Bell 407 | Bangalore, India | - | No injuries | - |
| 12 Dec 2006 | Bell 407 | Raytown, Missouri, United States | CJ Systems Aviation Group, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 17 Dec 2004 | Bell 407 | Ship Shoal 130E, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 3 Nov 2006 | Bell 407 | Kalispell, Montana, United States | - | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 May 2005 | Robinson R44 | Lucerne Valley, California, United States | - | Serious injuries | - |
| 28 May 2005 | S A Centrair PEGASE 101D | Williams, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 30 May 2005 | Cessna 172N | Stockton, California, United States | Luis Rivara | No injuries | - |
| 27 Dec 2005 | Socata TBM 700 | Lancaster, California, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 28 Dec 2005 | Learjet 35A | Truckee, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 8 Sep 2005 | Robinson R22 | Santa Clarita, California, United States | Orbic Helicopters | No injuries | - |