Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On November 3, 2010, about 1459 mountain daylight time, N8533F, a Bell 206B helicopter, was substantially damaged after impacting terrain following an in-flight wire strike near Meeker, Colorado. The pilot received serious injuries and the observer was fatally injured. The helicopter was registered to Kauffman Well Service, Inc., Denver, Colorado, and was being operated by Mile High Helicopter Company doing business as Aviation Technology Services, LLC, Englewood, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and a flight plan had not been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 pipeline patrol flight. The helicopter departed Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT), Grand Junction, Colorado, about 1156 destined for Meeker Airport (EEO), Meeker, Colorado.

The pilot was conducting a low altitude pipeline patrol in a helicopter equipped with sensor equipment that could detect and record the location of plumes of Methane gas. The observer, sitting in the left cockpit seat, was operating the sensor recording equipment during the flight. At the time of the accident, the pilot was flying westbound, following a pipeline that was buried next to a gravel road at the bottom of a valley in a remote mountainous area.

Two witnesses, located about 1,300 feet west from the accident site observed the helicopter flying toward them about 100 to 150 feet above the ground when they saw the helicopter suddenly pitch 90 degrees directly nose down. They saw the rotor system then separate from the fuselage and the helicopter disappeared from their view falling behind a stand of trees.

The main wreckage came to rest under a three-phase electrical distribution line which was suspended 95 feet above and perpendicular to the gravel road. The electrical wires were supported by poles about 680 feet apart on either side of the valley. The main rotor system separated from the helicopter and came to rest about 200 feet from the main wreckage.

The pilot stated he never saw the wires, but as he felt the impact he knew immediately what had happened and that he had struck wires. He also said the observer sometimes had information about some wires in their flight area ahead, but in this case she never mentioned them before the impact.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot’s logbooks were not available for examination. A review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records, the operator’s pilot records, and statements from the pilot, revealed that the 50-year-old pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, rotorcraft-helicopter, and instrument helicopter. He additionally held a certified flight instructor (CFI) certificate with a rating for rotorcraft helicopter. The pilot held a second-class medical certificate issued without limitations on May 24, 2010.

The pilot reported that he had accumulated a total flight time in all aircraft of about 15,800 hours. 14,