Sikorsky S-61N accident near Weaverville, CA
On August 6, 2008, a Sikorsky S-61N (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Weaverville, CA. 9 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 6, 2008
- Place
- Weaverville, CA
- Aircraft
- Sikorsky S-61N · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 9 fatal, 4 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.914°N, 123.252°W
- NTSB ID
- 20080820X01266
Official records · LAX08PA259
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Operations 2-Attachment 34_ Sikorsky's Communications With FAA Regarding 25 Minute Power Available Chart: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- Miscellaneous Transcript Excerpts: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-10-06. On August 5, 2008, about 1941 Pacific daylight time, a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter, N612AZ, impacted trees and terrain during the initial climb after takeoff from Helispot 44 (H-44), located at an elevation of about 6,000 feet in mountainous terrain near Weaverville, California. The pilot-in-command, the safety crewmember, and seven firefighters were fatally injured; the copilot and three firefighters were seriously injured. Impact forces and a postcrash fire destroyed the helicopter, which was being operated by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) as a public flight to transport firefighters from H-44 to another helispot. The USFS had contracted with Carson Helicopters, Inc. (CHI) of Grants Pass, Oregon, for the services of the helicopter, which was registered to CHI and leased to Carson Helicopter Services, Inc. of Grants Pass. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company visual flight rules flight plan had been filed.
Probable cause
The following actions by Carson Helicopters: 1) the intentional understatement of the helicopter's empty weight, 2) the alteration of the power available chart to exaggerate the helicopter's lift capability, and 3) the practice of using unapproved above-minimum specification torque in performance calculations that, collectively, resulted in the pilots relying on performance calculations that signi
From Wikipedia
On August 5, 2008, a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter, N612AZ, operated by Carson Helicopters, impacted trees and terrain during its initial climb after taking off from Helispot 44 near Weaverville, California, while transporting firefighters under contract to the U.S. Forest Service.
The pilot in command, a USFS inspector pilot, and seven firefighters were fatally injured, and the copilot and three other firefighters were severely injured but survived.
Text from Wikipedia, “2008 Carson Helicopters Sikorsky S-61 crash”, CC BY-SA 4.0; shortened to the introduction. Authors.
More accidents in CA
- Douglas MD-83, Feb 1, 2000
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- Sikorsky S76, Jan 26, 2020
Browse: California · Sikorsky 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.
