Kaman K 1200 accident near Pine Grove, OR
On August 25, 2020, a Kaman K 1200 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Pine Grove, OR. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- August 25, 2020
- Place
- Pine Grove, OR
- Aircraft
- Kaman K 1200 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 45.170°N, 121.549°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200824X31000
Official records · WPR20LA283
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 24, 2020, about 1747 Pacific daylight time, a Kaman K-1200 helicopter, N314, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Pine Grove, Oregon. The pilot was fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 133 external load flight. The helicopter was operated under an exclusive-use contract with the United States Forest Service (USFS) and had been conducting water bucket/fire suppression activities for the White River fire at Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon. The air attack controller, who was in radio contact with the pilot, reported that the pilot indicated that he needed to return to the heliport to refuel after “one more bucket.” The pilot provided no further transmissions to the air attack controller. About 15 minutes later, the air attack controller contacted dispatch and learned that the helicopter had not returned to the heliport. The air attack controller then flew to the dip site, where he observed the helicopter lying on its right side in the river at the dip site. No “mayday” radio call was received from the accident pilot. Onboard GPS instrumentation revealed that, about 1745 on the day of the accident, the helicopter was about 0.75 miles southwest of the accident dip site. The helicopter returned to the dip site and began to slow down and descend over the dip site. The last recorded data point was about 138 ft above ground level at 0 knots and was about 15 ft from the location of the main wreckage; see figure 1. Figure 1. Flightpath showing the helicopter’s height above
Probable cause
An in-flight breakup resulting from contact of the left rotor system with the right rotor system after an in-flight failure of a servo flap from a left rotor blade.
More accidents in OR
- Cessna T207A, Aug 21, 1986
- Piper PA-28-180, Sep 1, 1984
- Piper PA-28RT-201, Mar 12, 1984
- Piper PA 46-310P, Apr 7, 2017
- Cessna 172, Jun 23, 2012
Browse: Oregon
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
