CHI05CA271 · Bell 206B
Bell 206B · Accident: loss of control in flight during initial climb
From Elk Point, SD to Elk Point, SD
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI05CA271
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- General aviation
- 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
- N2995W
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Elk Point, SDTo Elk Point, SD
- 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 137: Agricultural
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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
- Loss of control in flight
- 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 › Altitude/clearance, not possible
- Reason for occurrence undetermined
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The helicopter was damaged during a forced landing following an uncommanded right rotation after takeoff. The pilot stated that he departed from the shoreline of a river into a 2 to 3 mile per hour wind. He stated that when the helicopter was about 100 feet in altitude, 100 yards from the shore, and indicating over 50 miles per hour, a slight right turn was initiated. He stated that full left pedal input would not stop the right turn. The pilot elected to return to the shore. He stated that as he approached a flat area, he felt that he would not be able to reach the intended landing area and attempted to turn back toward the river. He said that the left rear skid contacted the sloping ground and the helicopter slid down the slope and came to rest on its left side. Examination of the helicopter subsequent to the accident failed to reveal any anomalies. Continuity of the tail rotor drive and control systems was confirmed. A maintenance record entry dated one day prior to the accident indicated that the tailboom had been replaced. Determination of proper rigging of the tail rotor could not be determined due to bending of the tail rotor control push-pull tubes from impact forces. The pilot reported unlimited visibility, a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and south winds at 2 to 3 miles per hour.
Probable cause
The loss of directional control for undetermined reasons which led to the pilot not being able to maintain clearance from the embankment during the forced landing. The rising embankment was a factor.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI05CA271
- Event ID
- 20051014X01651
- Case number
- CHI05CA271
- 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, coordinates. 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: 257d13a2919325ef539c16b2c1335b6e59e09d524fda9e2bc673d101797fab20; retrieved 2026-09-22T05:22:04.139Z.