Bell 47G N7762

Summary

On 18 September 2006 at about 15:00 local time, a Bell 47G registered N7762, operated by Arrow Aviation, was involved in an accident near Angels Camp, California, United States. 2 people were 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.

Date

18 September 2006 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Angels Camp, California, United States

Coordinates

38.0167, -120.4667

Aircraft

Bell 47G

Registration

N7762

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Arrow Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Rancho Murieta → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06CA296

Nobody was injured.

a hard landing due to the pilot's inadequate compensation for a wind shift encountered on final approach and his failure to maintain an adequate translational lift airspeed.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an approach to land on a flat clear-cut plateau near a local vineyard, the wind shifted and the helicopter landed hard coming to rest on its left side. The pilot noted various obstacles at the approach end of the landing zone; two trees about 50 feet apart from each other, which he intended to fly between, a 6-foot-high mound, followed by a 2-foot hole, and another 2-foot mound, and then a flat area with no additional obstacles. On the approach, the wind shifted from a headwind to a tail wind. The pilot reported that the airspeed dropped below ETL (effective translational lift) and resulted in a loss of lift. He pushed the cyclic forward to gain forward airspeed and applied cyclic and power to avoid contacting the terrain below the top of the plateau. This maneuver assisted in gaining altitude, placing the helicopter above the plateau, but not above the 6-foot mound. He flared the helicopter, and as it passed over the mound, the tail rotor guard struck the top of the mound, which placed the helicopter in a nose down attitude. One of the landing gear skids collided with the 2-foot mound, which broke off the tailboom. At that point, the helicopter yawed to the right and started to roll to the left, and came to rest about 5 feet from the mound, lying on its left side.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.