ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 140263
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| Date: | Wednesday 7 December 2011 |
| Time: | 16:30 |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350B2 Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Sundance Helicopters Inc |
| Registration: | N37SH |
| MSN: | 2300 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1989 |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca ARRIEL 1SER |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | between Lake Mead and Henderson, NV -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Las Vegas, NV (LAS) |
| Las Vegas, NV (LAS) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On December 7, 2011, about 1630 Pacific standard time, a Sundance Helicopters, Inc., Eurocopter AS350-B2 helicopter, N37SH, operating as a “Twilight tour” sightseeing trip, crashed in mountainous terrain about 14 miles east of Las Vegas, Nevada. The pilot and four passengers were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact forces and postimpact fire. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Sundance as a scheduled air tour flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135. Visual meteorological conditions with good visibility and dusk light prevailed at the time of the accident, and the flight operated under visual flight rules. The helicopter originated from Las Vegas McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada, about 1621 with an intended route of flight to the Hoover Dam area and return to the airport. The helicopter was not equipped, and was not required to be equipped, with any on board recording devices.
Probable Cause: Sundance Helicopters’ inadequate maintenance of the helicopter, including (1) the improper reuse of a degraded self-locking nut, (2) the improper or lack of installation of a split pin, and (3) inadequate postmaintenance inspections, which resulted in the in-flight separation of the servo control input rod from the fore/aft servo and rendered the helicopter uncontrollable. Contributing to the improper or lack of installation of the split pin was the mechanic’s fatigue and the lack of clearly delineated maintenance task steps to follow. Contributing to the inadequate postmaintenance inspection was the inspector’s fatigue and the lack of clearly delineated inspection steps to follow.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/16-million-maintenance-errors/
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Dec-2011 00:32 | gerard57 | Added |
| 08-Dec-2011 00:41 | Alpine Flight | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Location] |
| 08-Dec-2011 05:43 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 13-Dec-2011 23:36 | Geno | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Sep-2014 11:00 | Aerossurance | Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:26 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 27-Nov-2017 17:38 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jan-2019 16:39 | Aerossurance | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Feb-2020 13:46 | harro | Updated [Source, Accident report, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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