The following comes from an
article on theworldlink.com
By Howard Yune, Staff Writer
The National Transportation Safety Board has released a six-page report about an Oct. 14 helicopter crash that killed both the pilot and passenger near Swisshome. World File Photo
Federal investigators have released a fact report about the Oct. 14 helicopter crash east of Florence that killed a state forestry official and a pilot employed by Weyerhaeuser Company.
The six-page report by the National Transportation Safety Board is based on an investigation led by Debra Eckrote of the agency's Seattle office. It outlines the circumstances of the accident, in which a Bell Longranger 206B struck an overhead power line near Swisshome, 21 miles east of Florence, and fell more than 200 feet into the Siuslaw River.
The pilot, 57-year-old Richard Warren Black of Eugene, and his passenger, 53-year-old David Craig Mackey of Veneta, died at the scene.
Mackey, an assistant forest unit supervisor for the Oregon Department of Forestry's Western Lane District, was directing Black toward the possible sites of water holes where helicopters could dip water while fighting forest fires in the district, the report said.
He had been assigned to mark the water holes with global positioning system points to guide future pilots to the dip sites.
According to the NTSB account, the helicopter left Eugene Airport shortly before 9:50 a.m. and was scheduled to pass over Triangle Lake and Lake Creek. The aircraft was then to follow the Siuslaw toward Mapleton, continue south to the Smith River and return to Eugene at about 1 p.m.
Although one of two witnesses to the helicopter crash reported "foggy and cloudy" weather in the general area of the crash, visual weather conditions prevailed, the NTSB added.
Shortly after 10:40 a.m., less than an hour after takeoff, the helicopter's rotor became entangled in the non-electrified neutral wire, the lowest of four cables spanning the river.
A second witness said immediately after the rotor struck the 5/8-inch-thick copper-and-steel line, the engine stalled and the craft fishtailed before plunging into 3 feet of water.
The 48-year-old electric wires, which are owned by the Central Lincoln People's Utility District, were not marked with rubber spheres to alert pilots, according to investigators.
Three people survived a helicopter collision 30 years ago with the same utility line, the Safety Board said. In that mishap, the pilot flying a Bell 47 on a mission for the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not see the neutral wire until too late, recalling afterward "the lines blended in with the dark background of the ridge."
Afterward, the USDA's accident report stated, under an entry listing steps to prevent future crashes, "Flight hazard map is being prepared will be posted and updated with copies available in pre-attack plan and with fire control officer." However, power lines and similar obstructions usually must be marked only within 3 nautical miles of an airport inside aviation corridors, said Eckrote, the lead investigator: stricter terms than existed in 1974, she added.
"In that era, those codes were not in effect, so it would be (a matter of) showing every single wire that crosses the countryside, which is impossible," she said on Thursday. "It would just be local knowledge."
According to the report, the ODF's aviation manual calls for a map of flight hazards, including power lines and towers, to be "maintained and kept at the respective offices or dispatch center" and to be updated at least once a year. Western Lane District staff members reported no flight hazard maps have been found either in the district office or dispatch center, investigators said.
The NTSB will publish a final report listing the probable cause of the accident in about two weeks, according to Eckrote.
Facts Report