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| Date: | Wednesday 19 June 2024 |
| Time: | 16:20 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 Raven II |
| Owner/operator: | RTW Adventures LLC |
| Registration: | N323TT |
| MSN: | 14626 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2023 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Bluestem, WA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Ellensburg-Bowers Field, WA (ELN/KELN) |
| Coeur d'Alene Airport/Pappy Boyington Field, ID (COE/KCOE) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
On June 19, 2024, about 1620 Pacific daylight time, a Robinson Helicopters R-44 II, N323TT, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Bluestem, Washington. The pilot and the pilot-rated-passenger were fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
According to the pilot’s wife, he was returning the helicopter to the Coeur d’Alene / Pappy Boyington Field (COE), Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and invited a friend, who was a certificated airplane pilot.
Recorded Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed that the helicopter departed Boeing Field / King County International Airport (BFI), Seattle, Washington at 1328. The helicopter arrived at Bowers Field Airport (ELN), Ellensburg, Washington, about 1437, where according to the airport manager, the pilot purchased 14 gallons of fuel, prior to departing at 1511. ADS-B data showed the helicopter flew to the northeast while at an altitude between 2,500 to 3,800 ft mean sea level (msl) and a groundspeed of about 100 knots. The last ADS-B data point showed the helicopter at about 3,050 ft msl, or about 740 ft above ground level (agl), with a groundspeed of 69 knots, about 50 ft southwest of the accident site.
Examination of the accident site revealed that the helicopter impacted open, hilly, terrain. The helicopter came to rest upright at the first point of impact, on a heading of about 086° magnetic at an elevation of 2,182 ft msl. The tail rotor assembly and about two ft of the tail cone was separated from the helicopter and were located about 340 ft southwest of the fuselage. Fragments of the helicopter were located within the debris path between the fuselage and the tail rotor assembly. A postaccident fire mostly consumed the fuselage. The remainder of the tail cone, engine and main rotor assembly remained but were also thermally damaged.
The wreckage was transported to a secure facility for further examination.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/19/two-dead-in-lincoln-county-helicopter-crash/
NTSB
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=323TT
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n323tt#35c242eb
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=a37b30&lat=47.498&lon=-118.229&zoom=11.6&showTrace=2024-06-19&trackLabels
Location
Media:
NTSB investigating Wednesday's crash of a Robinson R-44 helicopter near Bluestem, Washington.
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) June 20, 2024
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 20-Jun-2024 10:27 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 20-Jun-2024 17:38 | ASN | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Category] |
| 20-Jun-2024 20:13 | RobertMB | Updated [Phase, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 21-Jun-2024 10:04 | Captain Adam | Updated [Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-Jun-2024 20:10 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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