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| Date: | Sunday 14 December 1997 |
| Time: | 22:00 |
| Type: |  Bell 407 |
| Owner/operator: | Air Methods Corporation |
| Registration: | N771AL |
| MSN: | 53068 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1996 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 464 hours |
| Engine model: | Allison 250-C47B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Littleton, CO -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Ambulance |
| Departure airport: | Aurora, CO (N/A) |
| (N/A) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On December 14, 1997, at 2200 mountain standard time, a Bell 407 helicopter, N771AL, operated by Air Methods Corporation as an air ambulance, impacted power lines then terrain during initial climb following takeoff from an accident scene in Littleton, Colorado. The helicopter was destroyed and the commercial pilot, two flight nurses, and the patient received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a company flight plan was filed for this medical evacuation flight operating under Title 14 CFR Part 135. The flight departed a hospital in Aurora, Colorado, approximately 20 minutes prior to the accident.
On takeoff from an automobile accident site, with the patient on board, the air ambulance flight made a climbing right turn and flew into power lines. Witness marks on the helicopter provided evidence the helicopter struck the transmission line from below and impacted the ground in an inverted attitude below and to the west of the lines. Light conditions were a dark night with emergency response, construction, and emergency response vehicle lights illuminating the landing site area. The existence of the power lines was unknown to the fire rescue on-scene commander and the light conditions prevented the pilot from seeing anything outside the lighted area. The unmarked power lines were 622 feet apart and oriented northeast/southwest. The southern tower was 106 feet high and the northern tower 83.5 feet high. The towers and lines did not meet obstruction-marking criteria and were not marked. In addition, they were not depicted on sectional or topographic maps. Company policy, promulgated through documents and training, provided landing zone departure procedures which instructed the pilot to climb straight ahead in a near vertical climb to a minimum of 300 feet agl before turning. The horizontal distance from the helicopter's takeoff position to the power line was approximately 630 feet based on global positioning system (GPS) measurement.
Probable Cause: The pilot's inability to maintain adequate visual lookout due to the lighting conditions and his failure to follow company procedures for departure from a landing zone. Factors were dark night conditions, bright lights in the landing zone which prevented vision beyond the zone, and the power line existence was not available on charts to either the pilot or ground personnel.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001208X09300
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 07-Feb-2009 10:36 | harro | Updated |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:22 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 18-Oct-2022 12:02 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative, Accident report, Photo] |
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