Bell 407 accident near Morristown, TN
On November 9, 2007, a Bell 407 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Morristown, TN. 1 person died.
- Date
- November 9, 2007
- Place
- Morristown, TN
- Aircraft
- Bell 407 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- —
- Position
- 36.179°N, 83.375°W
- NTSB ID
- 20071227X01994
NTSB summary
On November 9, 2007, about 1610 central standard time, the pilot of a parked Bell 407, N555BH, was fatally injured when he was struck by the helicopter's idling main rotor at Moore-Murrell Airport (MOR), Morristown, Tennessee. The helicopter was not damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 local positioning flight. According to one of the passengers on the previous flight, after they had arrived at Morristown, the pilot taxied the helicopter to the fuel pumps. The pilot later realized that the fuel pumps were for aviation gasoline and not for jet fuel, so he advised the passengers that he would assist them in unloading, and then reposition the helicopter to the other fuel pump. After carrying the passengers' bags and using the restroom at the fixed base operator, the pilot returned to the helicopter. While walking toward the idling, unoccupied helicopter, the pilot was struck by main rotor. The passenger, who was familiar with the operation of the accident helicopter, subsequently approached and shut down the helicopter. Another witness was inside the terminal, and watched the pilot as he walked toward the helicopter. He initially thought that the pilot saw the turning main rotor blades, but then began to yell "stop, stop, stop." The pilot continued forward, and walked into the path of the main rotor. The witness recalled that the pilot was wearing a baseball cap and glasses, and that he walked briskly toward the helicopter with his head lowered. The witness estimated that the main rotor
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from the idling main rotor blade. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to comply with the manufacturer's procedure for securing the helicopter.
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Browse: Tennessee · 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.
