Bell 206B accident near Grand Canyon, AZ
On April 1, 1999, a Bell 206B (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Grand Canyon, AZ. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 1, 1999
- Place
- Grand Canyon, AZ
- Aircraft
- Bell 206B · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 36.031°N, 112.020°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001205X00484
Official records · LAX99FA136
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 1, 1999, at 1136 hours mountain standard time, a Bell 206B, N992UC, was destroyed when it collided with a tree and fell to the ground during an autorotative emergency landing following loss of engine power shortly after takeoff from the Grand Canyon, Arizona, airport. Fatal injuries were sustained by the commercial pilot under instruction and serious injuries were sustained by the airline transport instructor pilot. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. The helicopter was operated by Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters and the flight was originating at the time for a local area flight. The operator reported that the trainee pilot had recently been hired and was receiving initial new-hire training. The accident flight was the pilot's second flight in the operator's training program. According to witnesses, the helicopter lifted off from the operator's helipad located about 800 feet northeast of the airport terminal building and transitioned to forward flight over the (public) curbside access road in front of the terminal while traveling southwest-bound parallel to runway 21. When the aircraft was over the south end of the terminal building, at 150 feet agl and flying about 50 knots, the witnesses reported that the sound of the helicopter changed. The aircraft descended straight ahead, impacted a tree with the rotor, pitched nose down, and fell to the ground near the base of the tree and along side the terminal access road. According to the operator, the instructor pilot said that the engine had failed
Probable cause
The failure of the flight crew to properly preflight the helicopter and to detect and remove accumulated snow from the engine inlets and plenum chamber. Factors in the accident were the clouded plenum chamber inspection window and the failure of preceding flight crew to install the engine inlet covers in accordance with the operator's procedure.
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Browse: Arizona · Bell aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
