Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On June 30, 2005, at 1357 mountain daylight time, an Agusta A119 helicopter, N403CF, operated by Tri-State Care Flight, LLC, of Bullhead City, Arizona, as "Care Flight 4" and piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain while approaching to land at a landing zone (LZ), 7.5 miles northeast of Mancos, Colorado. The pilot, flight nurse, and paramedic were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed and activated for the emergency medical service (EMS) flight being conducted under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The flight originated at Animas Airpark (5CO0), Durango, Colorado, at 1242.

According to Tri-State Care Flight, the helicopter had been dispatched earlier to search for a 14-year-old drowning victim in the Animas River near Farmington, New Mexico. The helicopter crew eventually located the victim. While the helicopter was returning to Durango, it was dispatched to the Red Arrow Mines area, near Mancos, for a logger who had been injured in a trucking accident. The helicopter flew to 5CO0, where it was refueled from a company fuel truck (quantity unknown), then responded to the emergency.

According to a volunteer fireman who was standing at the LZ and directing the helicopter, the pilot made a low pass, then circled around to make his landing approach. The fireman said the temperature was "about 80 degrees [F.]," and he advised the pilot that the winds were calm. The pilot acknowledged this information. The fireman, who was looking directly at the approaching helicopter, said it was about 220 feet above tree level when "it dropped straight down." He said he heard no unusual engine sounds, and he did not see the impact. The first 9-1-1 telephone call was received by Montezuma County Dispatch at 1402.

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight in the Helmet Peak area, near Forest Road (FR) 567 and FR 322, 7-1/2 miles northeast of Mancos. The accident site was at an elevation of 9,731 feet msl, and at a location of 37 degrees, 23.620' north latitude, and 108 degrees, 08.320' west longitude.


CREW INFORMATION

The pilot, age 40, held a commercial pilot certificate with rotorcraft-helicopter and instrument-helicopter ratings, dated September 25, 1995. He also held a second class airman medical certificate, dated April 18, 2005, with no restrictions or limitations. According to Tri-State Care Flight records, the pilot had logged 2,215 total flight hours, of which 1,600 hours were as pilot-in-command, and 130 hours were in the Agusta A119. In addition, the pilot had logged 532 night hours, and 81 hours in actual instrument meteorological conditions. When he made application for his medical certificate, the pilot estimated he had accrued 2,500 total flight hours, of which 80 hours were logged in the previous 6 months. He was employed by Tri-State Care Flight as an E