On August 21, 2006, about 1920 Alaska daylight time, a
Canadian registered Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter, C-FYUN, was destroyed
when it impacted terrain during an external load operation, about 20 miles
west of Nuiqsut, Alaska. The helicopter was being operated under contract
from Prism Helicopters, Wasilla, Alaska, by the United States Geological
Survey (USGS), Reston, Virginia, as a visual flight rules (VFR) public use
cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident
occurred. The solo commercial certificated pilot received fatal injuries.
Marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight
following procedures were in effect.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 22, an FAA specialist at
the FAA Regional Operations Center (ROC) in Anchorage, Alaska, said the
helicopter had been dispatched from Inigok, Alaska, on the evening of August
21, to retrieve an external load at the Fish Creek Well 1 site, about 20
miles west of Nuiqsut. The specialist said the helicopter pilot did not
report arriving at or leaving the Fish Creek site, and had not returned to
Inigok. She said the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) had been
notified, but low clouds, fog, and darkness had precluded aircraft from
searching the area.
The helicopter's wreckage was discovered by searchers in a shallow lake,
about 1100 on August 22.
On August 23, during an interview with the IIC, the Inigok camp manager said
the helicopter had returned to Inigok from the Fish Creek site on the day of
the accident, bringing back a USGS employee and an internal load. He said
the pilot then returned to the Fish Creek site to retrieve an external load
which had been prepared by USGS personnel and left for his retrieval. The
camp manager said prior to the helicopter leaving to retrieve the external
load, there was a discussion with the pilot about deteriorating weather
conditions at the Fish Creek site. He said the pilot was advised not to take
any chances if the fog was moving in from the north, and return to Inigok
without the external load if necessary.
The USGS employee who rode with the pilot on the evening of the accident,
told the IIC that when they left the Fish Creek site for Inigok, low clouds
and fog from the north had already started to move into the area. He said
characteristically the fog and low clouds would move to the north in the
late morning, and move south during the late afternoon or early evening.
The area where the accident occurred is principally a tundra plain,
typically less than 100 feet in elevation, with the Beaufort Sea to the
north. The area has numerous shallow lakes and arctic marshes. |
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