Bell 206B N16869

Summary

On 18 November 2009 at about 17:30 local time, a Bell 206B registered N16869, operated by Leading Edge Aviation Inc., was involved in an accident near Lyons, Oregon, 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.

Date

18 November 2009 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Lyons, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

44.8197, -122.3707

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N16869

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Leading Edge Aviation Inc.

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lyons → Lyons

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10CA057

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadvertent encounter with a vortex ring state (settling with power) condition while he was descending, and his improper initial remedial action.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was for the pilot to relocate Christmas trees to a nearby drop site. The pilot said that as he was maneuvering the helicopter to the drop site with a load, the helicopter began to settle with power. In reaction he applied more collective to arrest the descent. The helicopter continued to descend and he then attempted to reduce the collective and maneuver forward. The helicopter touched down hard on the heels of the skids and the helicopter's nose came to rest in a pile of Christmas trees. According to the FAA's Rotorcraft Flying Handbook, when recovering from settling with power "the tendency on the part of the pilot is to first try to stop the descent by increasing collective pitch. However, this only results in increasing the stalled area of the rotor, thus increasing the rate of descent" and instead the pilot should recover by "increasing forward speed, and/or partially lowering collective pitch." The pilot stated that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.