Sikorsky S-76A N343AA

Summary

On 27 June 2008 at about 19:33 local time, a Sikorsky S-76A registered N343AA, operated by Artic Air Service, was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California, United States. 10 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 June 2008 at 19:33

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Maria, California, United States

Nearest airport

Platform Irene Heliport

Coordinates

34.6111, -120.7308

Aircraft

Sikorsky S-76A

Registration

N343AA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Artic Air Service

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Maria → Santa Maria

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX08LA200

1 person had minor injuries.

The copilot's misjudged clearance from an object during a hovering turn for landing. Contributing to the accident were the inadequately marked heliport surface and the close proximity of an obstruction near the landing area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter's copilot was performing the landing on an oil production platform and making a right pedal turn over the heliport surface when the tail rotor of the helicopter struck a movable derrick. The copilot lost tail rotor authority and landed immediately. The left main gear collapsed and the helicopter rolled onto the left side. The helicopter received structural damage to the tail rotor and main rotor assemblies. The operator reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the helicopter. Six days before the accident, the movable derrick on the platform had been positioned to its closest location to the heliport area, 7 feet from the southeast edge of the heliport deck. None of the derricks on the other platforms used by the operator can be positioned this close to the flight deck. The deck area of the accident platform's heliport is 50 feet by 50 feet, compared to an area of about 70 feet by 70 feet on the other platform heliport decks. In the past, the accident platform had different markings than those on the other decks, including a reference line, or "Butt Line," to determine the location of the pilot seat that would allow adequate tail rotor clearance during a pedal turn. The deck on the accident platform had been stripped and repainted about 2 months before the accident, and the new markings were similar to those on the other decks; however, the "H" symbol was offset from the previous position to be about 1 foot closer to the southeast side of the deck, and the reference line had not been repainted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.