NTSB Identification: CEN16LA182
14 CFR Part 137: Agricultural
Accident occurred Friday, May 13, 2016 in Portia, AR
Aircraft: BELL 47G 3B 1, registration: N48316
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Uninjured.
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 may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On May 13, 2016, about 0715 central daylight time, a Bell 47G helicopter, N48316, collided with a service truck during takeoff near Portia, Arkansas. One person on the ground was fatally injured. The helicopter was substantially damaged and the commercial rated pilot was not injured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Hammock Flying Services LLC under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.
According to a statement provided by the pilot to the responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector, the helicopter had landed on an elevated platform located on top of the service truck. After being loaded with fuel and applicant, the helicopter began to lift off. The helicopter's skid became entangled with a piece of the elevated platform and the pilot attempted to free the helicopter. The helicopter tipped forward and the pilot lost control of the helicopter. The main rotors contacted the service truck and the helicopter impacted terrain. Substantial damage was sustained to the helicopter's main rotors, tail boom, and fuselage. Debris from the helicopter struck and fatally injured a ground attendant that had assisted in the loading.
Jim Penn examines the wreckage of a helicopter after it crashed on the farm he owns in Lawrence County Friday.
One person has been killed after a helicopter crash in Lawrence County, authorities said.
Buddy Williams, director of the county's office of emergency services, said it happened shortly after 7:15 a.m. along County Road 504 near Portia as an agricultural helicopter was taking off. It had been loading chemicals to spray on a rice field.
Williams said the helicopter made contact with a supply truck and crashed. The pilot was uninjured, but a service worker on the ground was hit by shrapnel from the crash and was seriously hurt, Williams said.
The man, whose name has not been released, was taken by medical helicopter to a Memphis hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Williams said he was notified of the death around 10:15 a.m.
The Federal Aviation Administration was called in to investigate the crash.
Portia is about 6 miles west of Walnut Ridge and 30 miles northwest of Jonesboro.
Original article can be found here: http://www.arkansasonline.com
PORTIA, AR (KAIT) - One person flown from a helicopter crash in Lawrence County Friday morning has died.
A person on the ground injured at the time of the crash died, according to Lawrence County Office of Emergency Management Director Buddy Williams.
The person was initially in serious condition when flown from the scene to a Memphis hospital after being hit by flying parts from the helicopter, Williams said.
The pilot was not injured.
No names have been released.
Farmhands were reportedly loading the helicopter belonging to Hammock Flying Services when it came down on the front part of the truck during the loading process.
Lawrence County Dispatch was called around 7:15 a.m. to the crash at Penn Farms near Lawrence County Road 504 in Portia
Williams says the incident appears to have been an accident. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
Members of the Federal Aviation Administration are en route from Little Rock to investigate, but Williams says that is routine.
This is not the first crash involving Hammock Flying Services.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, aircraft with the company were involved in a crash in June 2006 and July 2015.
In 2006 an agricultural airplane crashed while making an emergency landing near Minturn. The pilot reported a lose of power and that the aircraft was low on fuel.
Investigators also found minimal fuel on board.
The 2015 incident involved a helicopter hitting a truck in DeQueen.
NTSB found the pilot's "failure to conduct helicopter performance planning" caused the crash.
Read the full report about the 2015 crash, here.
Original article can be found here: http://www.kait8.com
NTSB Identification: GAA15CA202
14 CFR Part 137: Agricultural
Accident occurred Saturday, July 25, 2015 in De Queen, AR
Probable Cause Approval Date: 12/03/2015
Aircraft: BELL 47G, registration: N1420W
Injuries: 1 Minor.
NTSB investigators used data provided by various entities, including, but not limited to, the Federal Aviation Administration and/or the operator and did not travel in support of this investigation to prepare this aircraft accident report.
According to the pilot of the skid-equipped helicopter, he had loaded the helicopter with the liquid to be used during the agricultural aerial application flight. The pilot and operator both stated during interviews, that performance planning calculations were not performed prior to the flight, regarding adjustments pertaining to weight and balance, density altitude, out of ground effect capability or in ground effect capability. According to the operator, an FAA approved weight and balance form was not provided to the pilot until after the accident.
The pilot stated that during the takeoff from the elevated platform, he increased collective, established a 2 inch hover, applied forward cyclic, and the helicopter, "about a foot or two from the platform, shook violently and started to descend." The pilot recounted that he turned the nose of the helicopter approximately 45 degrees to the left and the main rotor blades impacted the tank truck upon which the elevated platform was mounted.
When asked, the pilot stated that, "the temperature was hot, possibly in the lower 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and no wind." The nearest weather station was 7 miles east of the accident site and reported 100 percent humidity, a temperature of 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit, a dew point of 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit, no wind and a density altitude of 1,698.7 feet, at an airport elevation of 355 feet. The accident site elevation was 457 feet.
The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and main rotor system.
The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter prior to the flight that would have precluded normal operation.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot's failure to conduct helicopter performance planning, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent and impact with a truck and terrain during takeoff from an elevated platform.
According to the pilot of the skid-equipped helicopter, he had loaded the helicopter with the liquid to be used during the agricultural aerial application flight. The pilot and operator both stated during interviews, that performance planning calculations were not performed prior to the flight, regarding adjustments pertaining to weight and balance, density altitude, out of ground effect capability or in ground effect capability. According to the operator, an FAA approved weight and balance form was not provided to the pilot until after the accident.
The pilot stated that during the takeoff from the elevated platform, he increased collective, established a 2 inch hover, applied forward cyclic, and the helicopter, "about a foot or two from the platform, shook violently and started to descend." The pilot recounted that he turned the nose of the helicopter approximately 45 degrees to the left and the main rotor blades impacted the tank truck upon which the elevated platform was mounted.
When asked, the pilot stated that, "the temperature was hot, possibly in the lower 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and no wind." The nearest weather station was 7 miles east of the accident site and reported 100 percent humidity, a temperature of 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit, a dew point of 73.4 degrees Fahrenheit, no wind and a density altitude of 1,698.7 feet, at an airport elevation of 355 feet. The accident site elevation was 457 feet.
The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and main rotor system.
The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter prior to the flight that would have precluded normal operation.
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