Aerospatiale AS350 N350DL

Summary

On 30 April 2019 at about 16:15 local time, a Aerospatiale AS350 registered N350DL, operated by Mission Mountain Helicopters, was involved in an accident near Sula, Montana, 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

30 April 2019 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Sula, Montana, United States

Coordinates

45.8594, -113.9681

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS350

Registration

N350DL

Category

Helicopter

Year built

2008

Engines

1

Operator

Mission Mountain Helicopters

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Soula → Soula

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

GAA19CA238

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from ground equipment, which resulted in a tail rotor blade impact.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter pilot reported that, after an agricultural application flight, he set the bucket down in a predetermined operations zone near a semi-truck loading hopper to be refilled. He added that another truck arrived to top off the semi-truck hopper, which emitted fertilizer dust and led to the pilot being concerned that it would deteriorate visibility. He advised the ground crew that he was going to temporarily move out of the operations zone. The pilot reported that he set the bucket in the new temporary operations zone. As the skid steer approached, he eased the helicopter backward to keep the other ground equipment in his view. The pilot heard a "bang," disconnected the helicopter from the long-line, and then landed the helicopter without further incident. Postaccident examination revealed that the auger from the semi-truck hopper was fully extended behind the helicopter and that a tail rotor blade had sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that he might have backed the helicopter into the extended auger. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.