Aviation Crash Map

Bell 206B N201SC

2 October 2005 · Pixley, California, United States · Serious injuries

Summary

On 2 October 2005 at about 16:00 local time, a Bell 206B registered N201SC was involved in an accident near Pixley, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously 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 16:00
Classification
Accident
Location
Pixley, California, United States
Coordinates
35.5072, -119.1919
Aircraft
Bell 206B
Registration
N201SC
Category
Helicopter
Engines
1
Operator
Not recorded
Operating rule
Part 137: Agricultural
Purpose of flight
Aerial Application
Phase of flight
Not recorded
Route
Pixley → Unknown
Aircraft damage
Substantial
Weather
VMC
Light
Day
NTSB number
LAX06CA002

People

1 person was seriously injured.

On board Died Serious Minor Uninjured
1 0 1 0 0

Probable cause

the pilot's failure to maintain clearance with the wire during a low altitude aerial application flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter impacted a support wire between two poles while it was conducting aerial applications. The pilot completed spraying the field and was getting ready to spray the borders. He checked the power lines near the field and elected to fly beneath them to prevent drift over the adjacent field. As the pilot neared the wires for the spray run, he noticed a guy-wire running from pole-to-pole below the power lines. He lowered to collective, but the helicopter snagged the wire with the top portion of the vertical stabilizer. The helicopter then impacted terrain and rolled into a canal.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.

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no coordinates
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All 1,732 records for this type

Other accidents in this area

Date Aircraft Location Operator Outcome Died
28 May 2005 Robinson R44
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28 May 2005 S A Centrair PEGASE 101D
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30 May 2005 Cessna 172N
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27 Dec 2005 Socata TBM 700
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28 Dec 2005 Learjet 35A
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8 Sep 2005 Robinson R22
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All 170,864 records in United States