DURING AN EMER NIGHT OP; A BELL EMS HELI IS DAMAGED DURING A GND TAXI TURN; HITTING ITS TAIL ROTOR ON A STEEL REFLECTOR POST OFF THE SIDE OF THE HWY NEAR ZZZ; US.

Date: 2003-03 · Aircraft: Bell Helicopter Textron Undifferentiated or Other Model · Phase: taxi

Anomalies: ground-event-encounter-loss-of-aircraft-control|other-visual-interference

Synopsis

DURING AN EMER NIGHT OP; A BELL EMS HELI IS DAMAGED DURING A GND TAXI TURN; HITTING ITS TAIL ROTOR ON A STEEL REFLECTOR POST OFF THE SIDE OF THE HWY NEAR ZZZ; US.

Narrative

I DEPARTED ZZZ WITH 2 FLT NURSES FOR A MEDICAL SCENE CALL ON A ROAD 1/2 MI E OF TOWN. AFTER DEP TO THE SCENE; I CALLED FLT DISPATCH FOR A LNDG ZONE UPDATE. I THEN NOTIFIED FIRE CREW FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATE AND ESTIMATED TIME OF ARR. WE WERE TOLD OF OBSTACLES ALONG S OF HWY AND THAT FLARES WERE GOING TO BE USED. I OVERFLEW THE LNDG ZONE FROM W TO E WITH THE APCH TO THE W ALONG HWY. ON SHORT FINAL; I CONFIRMED THE HIGH TENSION WIRES AND NUMEROUS SIGNS NEAR THE LNDG ZONE. THE MEDICAL CREW INFORMED ME THAT THEY WOULD PROBABLY DO A 'HOT LOAD' SO AFTER LNDG I WOULD KEEP THE ACFT RUNNING. THE CREW DEPARTED THE ACFT; TO THE L AND R REAR. I THEN NOTIFIED COUNTY FIRE DEPT THAT I WOULD BE MOVING THE ACFT BECAUSE OF SAFETY REASONS. I PROCEEDED TO GND TAXI THE ACFT FORWARD TO TURN THE TAIL INTO THE TURN AROUND; WHICH WAS JUST OFF THE L FRONT OF THE ACFT. I CLRED THE ACFT; THEN BEGAN A R TURN TO FACE S ON THE HWY. I THEN MOVED THE ACFT FORWARD AND THIS IS WHEN THE TAIL ROTOR STRUCK A STEEL REFLECTOR POST. THE ACFT IMMEDIATELY CAME TO A 5-6 FT HOVER. I THEN LOWERED THE COLLECTIVE AND ROLLED THE THROTTLES FROM IDLE TO STOP -- THE RIGHT ROTATION OF THE HELI. THE ACFT LANDED WITH A L REAR SKID FIRST AND STILL CONTINUED TO ROTATE TO THE R. THE ACFT CAME TO A STOP WITH THE HDG 180 DEGS FROM THE ORIGINAL HDG. I MADE AN EMER SHUTDOWN AND CALLED FLT DISPATCH. PROB AROSE: MOVING ACFT TO NEW POS AFTER LNDG. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: HIGH VOLUME OF LIGHT CAUSING WHITEOUT ON PLEXIGLAS WINDOWS. DEBRIS AROUND LNDG ZONE. DECISION TO GND TAXI RATHER THAN HOVERING. REFLECTOR STEEL POST WAS CAMOUFLAGED WITH BACKGND. HOW IT WAS DISCOVERED: BY LOAD GANG. ACFT ROTATED TO THE R AND BECAME AIRBORNE. CORRECTION ACTION: AUTOROTATE WITH THROTTLES TO IDLE.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.