Minnesota State Patrol Helicopter Destroyed in Training Accident

On April 18, 2016, about 1224 central daylight time, Bell 206-L4 helicopter, N119SP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Arden Hills, Minnesota. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The helicopter, registered to Minnesota Department of Public Safety, was operated as a public aircraft. According to the operator, the accident occurred during a Minnesota Aviation Rescue Team training mission that included the St. Paul Fire Department and Minnesota State Patrol personnel. The purpose of the training was to practice having the firemen mount and dismount the helicopter skids following a pinnacle approach and landing. The pinnacle landings were made to several Conex shipping containers located within the training site. One of the firefighters had a helmet camera that partially captured the accident sequence. The firefighter was positioned on top of a shipping container and was preparing to mount the helicopter when the accident occurred. His helmet camera footage showed the helicopter approach and land on the shipping container. However, before he and his partner were able to mount the helicopter skids, the helicopter lifted off and moved forward away from the shipping container. The helicopter then descended and impacted terrain between shipping containers.

The pilot reported that, earlier in the morning, he had completed an uneventful flight from St. Paul, Minnesota, to the training facility located in Arden Hills, Minnesota. After landing, he shut down the helicopter and participated in the pre-training briefing with the firefighters. Following the briefing, he boarded the helicopter and completed an uneventful engine startup. He then repositioned four teams of two firefighters each into position before beginning the elevated close-quarter loading training. The pilot stated that the accident occurred during his seventh approach-and pickup of firefighters from various shipping containers in the training area.
The pilot stated that he made a “stable” straight-in approach to the shipping container while he kept visual contact with the firefighter on his right side, who gave him a “thumbs-up” to continue with the landing and firefighter pickup. The pilot noted that he lost visual contact with the firefighter shortly before the helicopter settled onto the shipping container. He stated that he then heard or felt a “bang,” which he initially thought was the helicopter’s tail contacting the shipping container; however, a tail strike at that point was not possible due to the helicopter’s attitude and position on top of the container.

The pilot also noted that the audible “thunk” that he heard was different from when the landing skids normally touch down on the shipping container. He stated that the helicopter “felt loose” and that he had difficulty keeping it in position on top of the shipping container, so he decided to abort the landing and climb away from the shipping container. The pilot stated that he increased collective to establish a climb but quickly realized that the helicopter was not climbing as intended. There was another shipping container ahead of the helicopter, so he maneuvered the helicopter to the right where a hard landing was completed between shipping containers. The pilot remembered hearing an engine-out warning and possibly a low rotor speed alarm in the cockpit, but he could not recall exactly when he heard the warning and/or alarm. The pilot also did
not recall seeing any master warning indicator lights, but he stated that his attention was focused outside of the helicopter during the final moments of the flight. The pilot reported that as the helicopter descended, he briefly lowered collective to gain main rotor rpm, then increased the collective to reduce the helicopter’s rate of descent before it landed hard between shipping containers. After the accident, the pilot shutoff the fuel and battery before he exited the helicopter. The helicopter sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage, tail boom, and the tail rotor driveshaft.

Further review of the video footage from the camera mounted to one of the firefighter’s helmets indicated that after the pilot aborted the landing on the shipping container the helicopter rotated slightly left as it climbed about 10-15 ft before it rotated about 90° to the right and descended to a dirt road between three shipping containers. As the helicopter descended, there was an audible decrease in engine speed and main rotor speed. The helicopter landed hard upright, which deflected the landing skids and fractured the tail boom aft of the fuselage. The main rotor blades struck the adjacent shipping container, which caused the separation of 8-10 ft of one of the rotor blades.

The half-million dollar thermal imaging system below the helicopter was knocked off. I am awaiting word on whether it’s toast..

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