Eurocopter EC 130 B4 N154GC
25 July 2014 · Boulder City, Nevada, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 25 July 2014 at about 23:46 local time, a Eurocopter EC 130 B4 registered N154GC, operated by Papillon Airways Inc, was involved in an accident near Boulder City, Nevada, United States. 9 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.
The record
- Date
- at 23:46
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Boulder City, Nevada, United States
- Nearest airport
- Boulder City (BVU)
- Coordinates
- 35.9475, -114.8550
- Aircraft
- Eurocopter EC 130 B4
- Registration
- N154GC
- Category
- Helicopter
- Year built
- 2010
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Papillon Airways Inc
- Operating rule
- Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Boulder City → Boulder City
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- WPR14LA313
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Probable cause
The airplane flight crew’s failure to exercise the necessary vigilance and precautions and yield the right of way to the landing helicopter, which resulted in the airplane colliding with the helicopter. Contributing to the accident was the helicopter pilot’s decision to continue his descent without positively determining that the airplane did not pose a collision hazard.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The commercial helicopter pilot was operating on his first day of revenue service for the aerial tour company and was returning to the nontowered airport at the completion of a tour with six passengers. The pilot complied with the published arrival procedures, including flying the prescribed route and making the appropriate radio position callouts on the airport's common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). Concurrent with the helicopter's arrival, the captain and first officer of an aerial tour airplane were beginning the taxi-out for departure of the positioning flight. The airport arrival procedures, layout, and wind conditions resulted in the two aircraft having to use the same portion of taxiway Delta, in the same direction, for their respective operations. The helicopter pilot reported that he first saw the airplane when the helicopter was turning westbound and descending over Delta; at that time, the airplane was taxiing southbound on the ramp toward Delta. The helicopter pilot announced his location and intentions and continued descending along Delta. When the airplane reached Delta, the first officer announced on the CTAF that the airplane was planning to proceed westbound on Delta. The captain reported that he looked but did not see any helicopters and that he then proceeded to turn westbound onto Delta, which placed the airplane directly into and under the helicopter's flightpath and prompted the helicopter pilot to radio that he was "right above" the airplane and repeat his landing intentions. The helicopter pilot continued the descent based on his hearing a "double-click" on the CTAF, which he interpreted as the airplane flight crew's acknowledgement that they saw and would avoid the helicopter. Shortly thereafter, the helicopter collided with the airplane; damage patterns indicated that the two aircraft were aligned in nearly the same direction (westbound) at the time of impact. Because the helicopter was approaching from the airplane's left, along taxiway Delta, and was close in, it should have been readily visually detectable by the captain. Given that the first officer was aware of the inbound helicopter and should have been aware of its location and intentions based on the radio calls, the airplane's flight crew should have recognized the high potential for conflict and operated the airplane in a manner to ensure that a collision would not occur. In addition, the helicopter, as the landing aircraft, had the right of way over the departing airplane. The simplest and most effective method to prevent any conflict would have been for the airplane flight crew to stop on the ramp and not proceed onto taxiway Delta until the helicopter was positively determined to no longer pose a collision threat. However, there was no evidence that the airplane stopped before it turned from the ramp onto taxiway Delta. The evidence indicated that the airplane taxied out just ahead of and below the descending but faster moving helicopter, which significantly reduced the helicopter pilot's ability to avoid the airplane.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Aircraft involved
| Aircraft | Registration | Operator | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | N154GC | Papillon Airways Inc | Substantial |
| De Havilland DHC 6 300 310 | N190GC | Grand Canyon Airlines | Minor |
Other Eurocopter EC-130 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2014 | Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | Boulder City, Nevada, United States | Papillon Airways Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 8 Jun 2013 | Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States | Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters | No injuries | - |
| 3 Jul 2015 | Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | Somerset, Colorado, United States | Jayhawk Inc | No injuries | - |
| 27 Jun 2017 | Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | Boulder City, Nevada, United States | Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters | Minor injuries | - |
| 3 Nov 2011 | Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | Noblesville, Indiana, United States | Sweetwater Helicopters LLC | Minor injuries | - |
| 10 Nov 2011 | Eurocopter EC 130 B4 | Pukoo, Hawaii, United States | Blue Hawaiian Helicopters | Fatal | 5 |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Sep 2014 | Backovich George C G P 5 | Reno, Nevada, United States | Lee Behel | Fatal | 1 |
| 26 Jul 2014 | Roscher Frederick THUNDER MUSTANG | Spanish Springs, Nevada, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 13 Jun 2014 | Dittenber Thomas J AURIGA | Echo Bay, Nevada, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 5 Nov 2014 | Extra Flugzeugproduktions-Und EA 300 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 9 Mar 2014 | Cessna 120 | Carson City, Nevada, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 21 Sep 2014 | Beechcraft E33A | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |