McDonnell Douglas Heli 369FF N975BW

Summary

On 22 August 2013 at about 21:48 local time, a McDonnell Douglas Heli 369FF registered N975BW, operated by Rogers Helicopters Inc, was involved in an accident near Reese, Michigan, 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

22 August 2013 at 21:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Reese, Michigan, United States

Coordinates

43.4711, -83.6614

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas Heli 369FF

Registration

N975BW

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1994

Engines

1

Operator

Rogers Helicopters Inc

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

External Load

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Saginaw → Saginaw

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN13CA501

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the temporary hoist holding the powerline wire which resulted in a brief loss of control and main rotor blade impacts with the tower.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter was conducting an electrical power line construction operation with a lineman standing outside on the skid. The wire was temporarily suspended by a hoist and the lineman was inserting a fiber shoe to attach the wire to the arm of the tower. While the helicopter was hovering next to the wire at about 200 feet above ground level the hoist slipped and the wire fell onto the top of the helicopter's skid. Control was briefly lost and four of the helicopter's main rotor blades impacted the tower resulting in substantial damage to the main rotor blades. The pilot quickly regained control and made an emergency landing in tall corn about 200 feet from the accident location.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.