Texas OH 13H/M74A N10009

Summary

On 25 July 2016 at about 15:50 local time, a Texas OH 13H/M74A registered N10009, operated by Hendrickson Flying Service Inc, was involved in an accident near Minonk, Illinois, 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

25 July 2016 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Minonk, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

40.8328, -88.9689

Aircraft

Texas OH 13H/M74A

Registration

N10009

Category

Helicopter

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Hendrickson Flying Service Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Minook → Minook

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN16LA284

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the truck driver to ensure that he had adequate clearance to pass under the helicopter and the failure of the loader to park in a safer area for reloading operations.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During reloading operations for an agricultural flight, the nurse truck was parked on the right shoulder of a road, facing west. The helicopter was parked on the elevated helipad on top of the nurse truck, facing north, with the engine running and rotor blades turning. The helicopter's tail boom and rotor disk extended about 8-10 ft over the road. As the loader was reloading the helicopter's product tanks, a westbound semi-trailer truck drove underneath the rotor disk and struck the helicopter's tail boom. The semi-trailer truck driver said he thought he had enough clearance to pass safely under the helicopter's tail rotor. The pilot said that if the nurse truck had parked closer to an adjoining field, the platform would have a tilt, making it difficult to land for servicing. It is likely that the semi-trailer truck driver failed to ensure that he had adequate clearance to pass under the helicopter and that the loader failed to park in a safer area for the reloading operations.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.