What happened
On March 19, 2025, at 12:28 Pacific daylight time, a Bell 206B II, registration N23SD, crashed near Mountain Home Park, Washington. The aircraft was being operated by North Wind Aviation LLC as part of a Part 137 agricultural flight. The pilot had been applying herbicide to a field near Dayton, Washington, and was traveling to a different location for further spraying when the accident occurred.
At 12:29, the Columbia County 911 dispatch center received an automated voice call from the pilot's cell phone, which indicated a crash had been detected and provided GPS coordinates. Local law enforcement subsequently located the wreckage.
The accident occurred within a canyon approximately 1,000 feet deep and one mile wide. Three electrical cables spanned the canyon, supported by two steel towers located roughly 4,200 feet apart. During the flight, the aircraft impacted these cables; investigators noted that the center cable was severed and the southern cable showed frayed wires. The 1 fatal accident occurred in visual meteorological conditions (VMC) with a visibility of 10 statute miles and winds from 170 degrees at 13 knots.
The investigation
The wreckage was recovered to a secure facility for examination. The main wreckage, including the engine, fuselage, and main rotor transmission, came to rest on the east slope of the canyon, approximately 150 feet north of the power lines.
Investigators identified the following mechanical details:
- Impact signatures on the left nose and fuselage were consistent with contact with an electrical cable.
- The tail rotor drive shaft was fractured in multiple locations, showing rotational scoring and torsional twisting.
- The engine displayed no evidence of pre-impact damage, fire, or mechanical malfunction, though the compressor inlet blades showed foreign object damage from fiberglass fragments.
- The main rotor blades showed evidence of cable strikes. The red blade featured striations consistent with a cable strike, while the white blade was fragmented, with striations on the upper surface also consistent with cable contact.
- The engine-to-transmission drive shafting was fractured at the KAflex coupling fingers.