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| Date: | Saturday 13 June 2009 |
| Time: | 19:45 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 |
| Owner/operator: | Skydive Factory |
| Registration: | N204EH |
| MSN: | 61 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1967 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 40624 hours |
| Engine model: | P&W Canada PT6A-60A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Orange, VA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Parachuting |
| Departure airport: | Orange, VA (OMH) |
| Orange, VA (OMH) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot stated that after the 20 skydivers left the airplane, he “descended and entered at a 45-degree angle for the downwind leg for landing on runway 08.” Once on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot stated that the “windshield began fogging up.” The pilot decided to make a 360-degree turn to the right while he wiped the window with a rag. The pilot further stated that the last altitude he remembered being at was 2,000 feet mean sea level. Many of the skydivers had landed in a predetermined landing area, which was a field 0.25 nautical miles northwest of the runway. They reported that the airplane was conducting a “low-pass” about 30 feet above the ground when its propeller struck a descending skydiver’s parachute. The skydiver was seriously injured when he fell approximately 20 feet and struck the ground, but the airplane landed without incident. A few of the skydivers stated that the jump was a memorial exercise to release the ashes of a friend that recently died. They added that the airplane's low pass was part of the memorial exercise. The winds recorded at the airport about the time of the accident were calm. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Probable Cause: The pilot's improper decision to perform a low-level maneuver over a populated skydive landing area and his inadequate visual lookout.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 7 February 1986 | N204EH | Era Helicopters | 0 | Mekoryuk, AK | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Dec-2017 15:36 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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