STATELINE, NV, USA
N981CF
AEROSPATIALE SA316B
THE HELICOPTER WAS EN ROUTE TO PICK UP AN AUTO ACCIDENT VICTIM. THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT MADE A LANDING ZONE IN A PARKING LOT AND MARKED IT WITH ROAD FLARES. THE PARKING LOT IS ABOUT 7,200 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL (MSL). THE PILOT TERMINATED THE APPROACH ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL, LOWERED THE COLLECTIVE, AND DESCENDED VERTICALLY. A RAPID RATE OF DESCENT DEVELOPED, WHICH THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO ARREST, AND THE HELICOPTER LANDED HARD. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS COMPUTED AT 9,500 FEET ABOVE MSL.
On August 9, 1994, at 2137 hours Pacific daylight time, an Aerospatiale SA316B, N981CF, collided with level terrain while attempting to land in a parking lot at night at the Heavenly Valley Ski Resort, Stateline, Nevada. The helicopter was being operated by Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Inc., Provo, Utah, under 14 CFR Part 91. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The airline transport pilot, flight nurse, and emergency medical technician received minor injuries. The flight originated from the Washoe Medical Center Heliport (NV57), Reno, Nevada, at 2107 hours. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a company visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The purpose of the flight was to position the helicopter to pick up a critically injured person and then transport that person to a medical facility in Reno, Nevada. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office prepared a landing area in the Boulder Parking Lot of the Heavenly Valley Ski Resort. The elevation of the parking lot is about 7,200 feet above mean sea level. The landing area was marked by a sheriff's deputy with road flares. According to the operator, the pilot terminated the approach about 200 feet above ground level. The pilot accomplished a power check and a reconnaissance of the landing area using the helicopter's search light. The pilot then lowered the collective and descended vertically. A rapid rate of descent developed and the pilot added power and hovered laterally. The rate of descent started to subside as the helicopter descended into ground effect about 20 feet above the ground. The helicopter struck the asphalt surface of the parking lot in a nose-down attitude, collapsing the nose gear, bending the nose section upward, and damaging the tail rotor. The helicopter then bounced, became airborne again, and traveled off the parking lot and began to spin to the left. The helicopter landed upright in a small stream down a 60- to 74-degree slope, 40 feet below the level of the parking lot. The pilot indicated the temperature was 70 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of the accident. The density altitude was computed at 9,500 feet.
the failure of the pilot to maintain the proper rate of descent during the vertical descent into the landing zone, which resulted in a hard landing. Factors in the accident were high density altitude and dark night light conditions.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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