HALF MOON BAY, CA, USA
N277SP
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS 369D
The pilot departed his residence in the southern California area at 1030 on June 18th and flew commercially to Reno, Nevada. The pilot was to pick up the helicopter and ferry it to a movie filming location at the accident site, where it was to be used as a camera platform. The pilot arrived in Reno at 1300 hours and was informed that the helicopter was not at the airport and ground transportation would be sent to take him to the helicopter. The pilot waited in the airport terminal until 1630 hours for ground transportation to arrive. At 1745 hours the pilot departed in the accident helicopter and arrived at the filming site about 1850 hours. The actual filming started just after midnight on saturday morning and concluded at 0300 hours that morning. About 0410 hours the pilot was maneuvering the helicopter to depart the area when it collided with a power cable attached to an illuminated bank of high intensity lights mounted on top of a 125 foot tall telescoping tower used during the filming. The impact occurred on the same side of the tower as the two million candle power lights. The accident occurred about 17 hours after the pilot had departed his residence.
On June 19, 1993, at 0410 hours Pacific daylight time, a McDonnell Douglas 369D helicopter, N277SP, collided with an electrical power cable while maneuvering on takeoff from a landing zone near Half Moon Bay, California. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. The pilot received serious injuries. The passenger received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the early morning movie filming operation which had started just after midnight and was completed around 0300. The pilot stated that his work day had started 17 hours prior to the accident on June 18, 1993, about 1030, when he departed his home and flew commercially from Los Angeles to Reno, Nevada. The pilot was to have picked-up the helicopter at the Reno airport. After arriving at the Reno Airport at 1300 hours, the pilot was informed that the helicopter was not at the airport and ground transportation would be sent to take him to the helicopter. The pilot waited in the airport terminal until 1630 hours for ground transportation to arrive. At 1745 hours, the pilot departed the Reno area in the accident helicopter and arrived at the filming site about 1850 hours on June 18, 1993. The helicopter was being used as a camera platform at the filming site which was located on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. The filming was completed and the helicopter was maneuvering to depart the area about 0410 hours when it collided with the power cable. The cable supplied electrical power to a bank of high intensity lights that were 125 feet high and were illuminated at the time of the accident. According to the film company, the lights produced approximately two million candle power of illumination. The impact with the cable occurred about 25 feet below the lights on the illuminated side. The pilot had made several takeoffs and landings during the course of the filming that morning.
the pilots failure to maintain an adequate clearance from the light tower and associated electrical power cables. Factors in the accident were; 1) pilot fatigue due to an excessively long duty day, and 2) glare from the lights which affected the pilot's ability to clearly see the obsturctions.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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