Minot, ND, USA
N947LH
Bell 407
The pilot departed on a positioning flight to pick up a medical crew. As he neared the helipad, he performed a right 180° circling approach. After completing the turn, the pilot thought he was a little low on final approach, and "pulled in a little collective" as he leveled the helicopter, which contacted the landing pad "firmly." Before the subsequent departure, the pilot felt a vibration, and he shut down the helicopter to investigate. The crew walked toward the tail and noticed a slight bend in the lower vertical fin, the tips of both tail rotor blades missing, and the helipad safety fence missing a small section of the fence-edge pipe. Further examination of the helicopter identified cracks in the tail boom structure. A security camera video of the helipad showed that the helicopter's tail rotor impacted the fence during the landing.
On January 22, 2019, about 1332 central standard time, a Bell 407 helicopter, N947LH, impacted a helipad perimeter fence during a landing near Minot, North Dakota. The pilot, sole occupant was not injured, and the helicopter sustained substantial damage. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Executive Air Taxi Corp under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a positioning flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight. The pilot conducted a flight to the Trinity Medical Helipad (2ND4) to pick up the medical crew. The pilot stated he performed a right 180° circling approach to the helipad. As he finished the turn, he thought he was a little low on final approach and "pulled in a little collective." He applied more collective as he was leveling off and the "helicopter contacted the pad firmly." The pilot added that it was firmer than a normal landing, but he thought everything was okay until he noticed a small vibration. Before departing with the medical crew, the pilot still felt the vibration in the helicopter, so he shut the helicopter down to check. After shutdown, the crew walked toward the tail and noticed a slight bend in the lower vertical fin, the tips of both tail rotor blades missing, and the helipad safety fence was missing a small section of the fence-edge pipe. Additional examination of the helicopter identified cracks in the tailboom structure. A review of security camera video of the helipad showed the helicopter's tail rotor impact with the edge-fencing.
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from fencing around the landing pad during landing, which resulted in the tail rotor contacting the fence.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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