Luebell Helicopters Bell 206B accident
Bell 206B · Accident: in flight encounter with weather on approach
From MARBLE, CO to GALENA MOUNTAIN, CO
Event
- NTSB case
- DEN82DA046
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Charter & commuter
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Bell 206B
- Aircraft type
- Bell 206
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N2169X
- Operator
- Luebell Helicopters
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From MARBLE, COTo GALENA MOUNTAIN, CO
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · VFR pattern final
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- In flight encounter with weather
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Marble, CO, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
THE PURPOSE OF THE FLIGHT WAS TO TRANSPORT SKI GUIDES TO THE TOP OF A 13,000 FT MOUNTAIN RIDGE. AFTER CLIMBING IN MODERATE TO HIGH WINDS, THE PILOT APPROACHED THE INTENDED LANDING AREA FROM THE LEE SIDE AT AN ANGLE OF ABOUT 45 DEGREES TO THE RIDGELINE. HE REPORTED THAT DURING A NORMAL APPROACH, A SEVERE DOWNDRAFT WAS ENCOUNTERED ABOUT 50 FT SHORT OF THE INTENDED LANDING SPOT. THE HELICOPTER BEGAN A DESCENT WHICH EXCEEDED ITS CAPABILITY TO STOP. THE PILOT INITIATED A PEDAL TURN AWAY FROM THE RIDGELINE. HOWEVER, THE HELICOPTER CONTINUED TO SETTLE. IT CONTACTED THE TERRAIN WHILE HEADING ALMOST DIRECTLY DOWNHILL. THE HELICOPTER SLID APPROXIMATELY 50 TO 75 FT DOWN A 10 TO 15 DEGREE SLOPE UNTIL THE RIGHT SKID CONTACTED ROCKS BELOW THE SNOW AND SLOWED THE HELICOPTER TO A STOP. THE HELICOPTER WAS INSPECTED FOR OBVIOUS DAMAGE. THE PASSENGERS WERE OFF-LOADED AND THE HELICOPTER WAS FLOWN BACK TO MARBLE, CO WHERE MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL DISCOVERED DAMAGE TO THE BOX BEAM DOUBLER.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record DEN82DA046
- Event ID
- 20020917X01937
- Case number
- DEN82DA046
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 4d9c2e4b16c20562156d86d4f1ef3408ca58c29b5853cce2226041d151bdc6ea; retrieved 2026-09-18T21:11:11.989Z.