N372CA

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn October 30, 2018, about 1611 eastern daylight time, an Aerospatiale AS355F2, N372CA, was destroyed when it collided with a wooden utility pole and power lines while conducting power line construction operations near Beekmantown, New York. The airline transport pilot and a lineman were fatally injured, and the pilot-rated passenger and another lineman sustained serious injuries. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Catalyst Aviation, LLC, and was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 133 external load operation. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed from a designated landing zone near Plattsburgh, New York, at 1602.

The power lines the crew was working on were supported by two 75-ft-tall wooden utility poles connected by a wooden horizontal bar and two wooden cross bars. The horizontal bar was installed about 6.5 ft below the top of the two poles. The power lines were oriented northwest/southeast.

The helicopter was equipped with a bench (platform) that was attached externally on the right side of the right landing gear. A lineman would sit on the bench while performing his duties. The pilot, who was seated in the front right seat, would position the helicopter on the left side of the utility pole so that the lineman would be able to accomplish work.

The two helicopter occupants who survived the accident, the pilot-rated passenger and one of the lineman, as well as two witnesses on the ground, provided their accounts of the circumstances surrounding the accident to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the New York State Police. The pilot-rated passenger, who was seated in the front left seat, was observing the flight for training purposes. He stated that the pilot was the only one operating the controls at the time of the accident. The pilot-rated passenger recalled that the helicopter approached the utility pole and got caught in the power lines; the helicopter struck the utility pole twice and rolled inverted. The pilot-rated passenger stated that his next memory was that he was upside down, the helicopter was on fire, and he had to unbuckle his harness and jump to the ground.

According to the lineman who was seated in the aft left seat, he had flown earlier that day with the pilot to install a block (a large pulley used for fiber-optic wire) on one of the utility poles. During that flight, as the helicopter approached the pole, the pilot had a hard time keeping the helicopter steady because the "..wind was too strong," so all we did was temporarily place the pulley on the wire" and then returned to the base. During the flight, the lineman sent a text message to his foreman that stated, "[the pilot] is very good. He just has horrible tailwind on the side we actually need to be on." He said that after they landed, two more flights were conducted with different linemen taking turns practicing out on the bench. Once these flights were completed, all the lineman, their foreman, the pilot, pilot rated passenger, and "everyone" from the operator [owner of Catalyst and her husband, a helicopter test pilot, who was assisting in overseeing the operation] held a "tailboard" meeting. He said, "This was a meeting for everyone to discuss the previous flights, review the upcoming flights including a safety briefing. During this meeting, the pilot said it was too windy to fully install a block, which would require him to hover about 5-7 minutes. However, the conditions were okay to just temporarily hang the block, which would take about 30 seconds. The entire team agreed that this would be what they would do. The lineman said they departed with the pilot-rated passenger seated in the front left seat, the pilot in the front right seat, the other lineman was on the bench, and he was seated in the aft left seat. The lineman said he could see everything that occurred during the flight.

He said that, as the helicopter approached the utility pole, the other lineman on the bench was getting ready to install the block. The helicopter hovered for about 5 seconds so that the lineman could place the block on the line, and then the helicopter skid hit the pole three times. The surviving lineman indicated that the helicopter hit the pole "real hard" the third time and that the helicopter then rolled upside down into the wires and caught fire. The lineman exited the burning helicopter by jumping to the ground.

The linemen's foreman said that at the meeting prior to the accident flight he gave a sheet of all the block sizes to the husband of the owner of the helicopter company, who performed a weight and balance calculation. Once it was determined how many blocks could be taken on the accident flight, the pilot, pilot-rated passenger, and both linemen departed with the purpose to temporarily install the block. The foreman took a picture of the helicopter as it departed (time stamped at 1602) and then drove to the work site to observe the operation. The foreman said he arrived just as the helicopter was making its 45 ° approach to the power line structure.

As the helicopter got into place, the helicopter's right skid was almost even with the top of the pole. The foreman said the lineman on the bench connected the static line, opened the gate for the block, and placed the block on the power line. As the lineman was trying to close the gate of the block, the helicopter's right skid struck the pole. The helicopter pulled away and then struck the pole harder a second time. The helicopter then struck the pole a third time and immediately rolled over to the right, and the main rotor blades struck the adjacent static line and top of the other pole. The body of the helicopter became entangled in the energized (115 KVA) power lines and caught fire.

The husband of the owner of the helicopter company also witnessed the accident. He stated that the helicopter made a slow approach to the left side of the pole on a southeasterly heading (about 120°) and that the engines were operating normally. As the helicopter got into place near the pole, the lineman on the bench began to install the block. The helicopter then slid to the left and slid back to the right. The witness thought the helicopter's right skid had struck the pole because the helicopter immediately rolled over to the right. The main rotor blades then struck the top of the utility pole, and the helicopter became entangled in the power lines and caught fire. This witness saw all four helicopter occupants jump from the burning wreckage. He was not sure why the helicopter struck the pole and said it may have been the wind or just an overcorrection by the pilot. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe pilot, who was also the Director of Operations for the operator's Part 135 certificate, held an airline transport pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, instrument airplane, rotorcraft-helicopter, and rotorcraft-helicopter instrument. A review of the pilot's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records, revealed that his most recent first-class medical certificate was issued on August 22, 2018. At that time, he reported a total of 16,500 total flight hours. The operator reported that his last flight review occurred on October 16, 2018 in the same make/model helicopter as the accident helicopter.

The pilot-rated passenger held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for rotorcraft-helicopter and rotorcraft-helicopter instrument. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on January 19, 2018, with no limitations. The operator reported that he had 2,000 hours of total flight experience, of which 300 hours were in the same make and model as the accident helicopter. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe Aerospatiale AS355 was a twin-engine light-utility helicopter equipped with two Rolls-Royce 250-C20F engines. The last 100-hour inspection was completed on October 28, 2018, with a total airframe time of 9,904.3 hours. The left engine had a total time of 11,611.4 hours and 1,640.9 hours since overhaul. The right engine had a total time of 8,114.9 hours and 1,684.2 hours since overhaul. According to the operator, the helicopter had flown less than 1 hour between the time of the inspection and the time of the accident. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONPlattsburgh International Airport, Plattsburgh, New York, which was about 6 miles southeast of the accident site, was the nearest weather reporting station. At 1553, the reported weather was wind from 290° at 7 knots, visibility 10 miles, overcast ceiling at 3,100 ft, temperature 4°C, dew point -2°C, and an altimeter setting of 30.06 inches of mercury. AIRPORT INFORMATIONThe Aerospatiale AS355 was a twin-engine light-utility helicopter equipped with two Rolls-Royce 250-C20F engines. The last 100-hour inspection was completed on October 28, 2018, with a total airframe time of 9,904.3 hours. The left engine had a total time of 11,611.4 hours and 1,640.9 hours since overhaul. The right engine had a total time of 8,114.9 hours and 1,684.2 hours since overhaul. According to the operator, the helicopter had flown less than 1 hour between the time of the inspection and the time of the accident. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONA postimpact fire consumed most of the helicopter after it became entangled in the energized power lines, and sections of the helicopter dropped from the power lines as it burned. Found below the power lines were a portion of the cockpit, including the pilot and copilot seats; the main rotor system and all three main rotor blades; the combiner gearbox, which remained attached to the main transmission gearbox; the tailboom; and both engines.

The pilot and copilot seats were extensively fire damaged, and the aft seating area had been consumed by fire. The pilot's cyclic hand grip was mostly consumed by fire, and the electrical wires were exposed. ...