14 CFR Public Use
Accident occurred Saturday, March 30, 2013 in Talkeetna, AK
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/28/2015
Aircraft: EUROCOPTER AS350, registration: N911AA
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
: NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this public aircraft accident report.
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-14/03.
On March 30, 2013, at 2320 Alaska daylight time, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter, N911AA, impacted terrain while maneuvering during a search and rescue (SAR) flight near Talkeetna, Alaska. The airline transport pilot, an Alaska state trooper serving as a flight observer for the pilot, and a stranded snowmobiler who had requested rescue were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact and postcrash fire. The helicopter was registered to and operated by the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) as a public aircraft operations flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed in the area at the time of the accident. The flight originated at 2313 from a frozen pond near the snowmobiler's rescue location and was destined for an off-airport location about 16 mi south.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into deteriorating weather conditions, which resulted in the pilot's spatial disorientation and loss of control. Also causal was the Alaska Department of Public Safety's punitive culture and inadequate safety management, which prevented the organization from identifying and correcting latent deficiencies in risk management and pilot training. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's exceptionally high motivation to complete search and rescue missions, which increased his risk tolerance and adversely affected his decision-making.
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-14/03.
14 CFR Public Use
Accident occurred Saturday, March 30, 2013 in Talkeetna, AK
Aircraft: EUROCOPTER AS350, registration: N911AA
Injuries: 3 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. : NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this public aircraft accident report.
On March 30, 2013, at 2320 Alaska daylight time, a Eurocopter AS 350 B3 single-engine helicopter, N911AA, impacted terrain while maneuvering near Talkeetna, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter was destroyed by impact and post-crash fire. The helicopter was registered to and operated by the State of Alaska, Department of Public Safety (DPS), as a public aircraft operations flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions were reported in the area at the time of the accident, and department flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated from the passenger rescue location at 2313 and was destined for an off airport location in Talkeetna.
According to Alaska State Troopers personnel and dispatch records, at 1935, a distressed individual requested assistance in an area near Talkeetna, and a search and rescue (SAR) mission with the helicopter was initiated. The pilot departed the DPS facility at Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, at 2117. The pilot flew to Talkeetna and at 2142, picked up an Alaska State Trooper near the Talkeetna Trooper Post facility to aid in the SAR mission. The distressed individual was located, and the helicopter landed at the remote location at 2201. At 2313, the helicopter departed the remote location and was destined for an off airport location in Talkeetna to meet emergency medical ground support.
On March 31, 2013, at 0044, attempts were made by trooper dispatch personnel to contact the pilot and trooper via radio and their cellular telephones, without success. Due to weather conditions in the Talkeetna area, search efforts were delayed. At 0923, the helicopter accident site was located by search and rescue personnel.
The accident site was located approximately 5.6 miles east of Talkeetna in wooded and snow covered terrain. The main wreckage consisted of the fuselage, tailboom, engine, and skid assembly. Several sections of fragmented fuselage were located near the main wreckage. A post-crash fire consumed a majority of the fuselage. An Appareo Vision 1000 cockpit imaging and flight data monitoring device, and a Garmin 296 global positioning system (GPS) were recovered from the accident site and sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory in Washington, DC, for data extraction. A comprehensive wreckage examination is pending following recovery efforts.
The closest official weather observation station was at the Talkeetna Airport (PATK). At 2114, an aviation routine weather report (METAR) reported, in part: wind calm, visibility 7 miles with decreasing snow, broken clouds at 900 and 1,300 feet, sky overcast at 2,400 feet, temperature 34 degrees F, dew point 34 degrees F, and altimeter 30.22 inHg.
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Alaska State Troopers identified the victims of Saturday night's rescue helicopter crash during a press conference at the Tudor Road headquarters Monday afternoon.
The dead have been tentatively identified as 50-year-old Mel Nading, an Anchorage-based pilot, 40-year-old Trooper Tage Toll and the man the helicopter went out to rescue, Carl Ober. A positive identification has not yet been made and is awaiting results of an examination of the remains that were recovered from the helicopter crash site.
The State Troopers Helo-1 helicopter was dispatched after a report came in at about 7:30 pm on Saturday night. The helicopter stopped to pick up Trooper Toll and then proceeded to the area that Ober was at. It was reported that Ober was located and picked up by the helicopter at about 10 pm and the helicopter was last heard from about an hour later when it was reported that the helicopter was returning to the Sunshine Tesoro to drop Ober off to waiting medics.
The helicopter never arrived. Later the FAA would notify the Alaska Air National Guard who was able to begin their search at approximately 5 am. Searchers located the crash site mid-morning on Sunday.
The Alaska Air National Guard assisted in the recovery of the men's bodies. They were then taken from Palmer to the State Medical Examiner's office in Anchorage.
NTSB Investigator Clint Johnson said outside investigators will fly to Alaska to carry out the investigation as to the cause of the crash.
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