McDonnell Douglas 369E N1608D

Summary

On 29 July 2013 at about 14:45 local time, a McDonnell Douglas 369E registered N1608D, operated by U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminstration, was involved in an accident near Jackson, Kentucky, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 July 2013 at 14:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Jackson, Kentucky, United States

Coordinates

37.5511, -83.0886

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas 369E

Registration

N1608D

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

U.S. Drug Enforcement Adminstration

Operating rule

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

London → London

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13TA341

2 people were seriously injured.

The helicopter pilot's inadvertent collision with an unmarked and uncharted utility wire of which he was unaware.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

An unmarked and uncharted wire extended between two ridges, the last remaining wire of several that had provided utilities to a mine that was no longer in operation. The pilot did not see the wire and was flying the helicopter between the two ridges, about 500 feet above the valley floor, when the main rotor head contacted the utility wire. The pilot initiated an emergency descent but he had limited control of the helicopter, and it collided with the valley floor. A postcrash fire consumed the wreckage. Because the mine had been closed for a long time, no one had reported the utility wire to the Federal Aviation Administration for addition on the appropriate aeronautical chart.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.