NTSB Factual Report

On March 26, 1994, at approximately 1455 Alaska standard time, a Bell Helicopter Model 206B, N49727, registered to and operated by Coastal Helicopters, Inc., collided with terrain during a landing attempt on a wooden platform at a remote logging site on Etolin Island, approximately 18 miles south of Wrangell, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot-in-command received minor injuries. A logger who was in the process of boarding the helicopter at the time of the mishap was not injured. The helicopter was destroyed. The on-demand air taxi flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 135, last departed mile post No. 5 on Etolin Island and the intended destination was the accident site at mile post No. 3. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a Company VFR flight plan was in effect.

The NTSB investigator-in-charge conducted a telephone interview with the pilot on the morning of March 28, 1994. The pilot reported that he felt the landing skids of the helicopter contact the platform. He said that the platform was constructed of logs, was triangular in shape, and estimated that it was from 1 to 2 feet above the ground. He recalled semi-resting the landing skids on the platform for a very short time, perhaps from 1 to 5 seconds, and believed that he still had some torque on the main rotor blade as he verified the platform's structural integrity. The next thing he recalled was being assisted from the wreckage.

The pilot characterized the weather, at the time of the accident, as mostly clear with a few clouds in the sky, 3 to 5 miles visibility, and light and variable winds out of the southeast.

A subsequent inspection of the accident site by company personnel revealed that the main rotor blades of the helicopter struck a stump up slope of the landing platform.

NTSB Probable Cause

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S FAILURE TO ASSURE THAT HE HAD THE PROPER CLEARANCE FROM OBSTRUCTIONS PRIOR TO LANDING ON THE PLATFORM. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE HIGH OBSTRUCTION (TREE STRUMP).