Aerospatiale AS350 B2 N178CH

Summary

On 1 September 2012 at about 02:10 local time, a Aerospatiale AS350 B2 registered N178CH, operated by Last Frontier Air Venture, was involved in an accident near Talkeetna, Alaska, 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

1 September 2012 at 02:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Talkeetna, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

62.7667, -148.5833

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS350 B2

Registration

N178CH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Last Frontier Air Venture

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

External Load

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Talkeetna → Talkeetna

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC12CA100

Nobody was injured.

The entanglement of a plastic tarp in the helicopter’s tail rotor after becoming dislodged from its securement.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot landed a high-skid, turbine-powered helicopter at a remote construction site, which contained several bags of cement that were covered by a plastic tarp. The plastic tarp was secured by a nylon strap that was wrapped around the bags. The pilot reported that after landing near the bags of cement, he retarded the engine throttle to flight idle to begin the mandatory 2-minute engine cool down procedure. During the engine cool down, the pilot felt an abrupt airframe vibration, so he immediately closed the engine throttle and performed an emergency engine shutdown. A postflight inspection revealed that the plastic tarp had dislodged from the nylon strap, and it subsequently became entangled in the tail rotor hub and blade assembly. As a result, the helicopter sustained substantial damage to the tail rotor drive system and tailboom. The pilot said there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.