WPR15FA204 · Hughes 269C
Hughes 269C · Accident: low altitude operation/event while maneuvering
From Lewiston Nez Perce County Airport (KLWS) to Lewiston Nez Perce County Airport (KLWS)
Event
- NTSB case
- WPR15FA204
- 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
- 2 · 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
Hughes 269C
- Aircraft type
- Hughes 269
- 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
- N9490F
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Lewiston Nez Perce County Airport (KLWS), Lewiston, IDTo Lewiston Nez Perce County Airport (KLWS), Lewiston, ID
- Aircraft age
- About 42 years (built 1973)
- 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 91: General Aviation
- 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
- Maneuvering · low-altitude flying
- Defining eventThe 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
- Low altitude operation/event
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Wire
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
- Personnel issues › Psychological
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
**This report was modified on September 30, 2016. Please refer to the public docket for this accident to view the original report.**
The private pilot and passenger were on a local area flight. While maneuvering in a canyon, the helicopter impacted power lines and descended to the canyon's wall. A fire ensued and burned the surrounding area. The power lines were located 350 ft south of the wreckage with two 35-ft support structures (wood poles) on either side of the canyon about 1,452 ft apart. The two 5/16-inch diameter power lines were oriented east-west and ran horizontally parallel to one another.
Ground scar analysis and wreckage fragmentation revealed that the helicopter contacted the power lines in the area of the swashplate. According to the helicopter manufacturer, if the helicopter were in level flight at cruise speed, 0.11 seconds would transpire between the contact with the first wire (canopy) and the second wire (slat and mast). Given the damage and rub marks, it is likely that, after the second wire impact, the helicopter pitched up and yawed left. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The private pilot had about 55 hours total time, most of which was accumulated around the accident area.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate clearance from power lines while maneuvering in a canyon.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record WPR15FA204
- Event ID
- 20150701X20227
- Case number
- WPR15FA204
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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: 32354f86f25cd21d7278890fb598f61f53d1d371be9f911e4d0ed950bfd85a2d; retrieved 2026-09-14T19:45:20.477Z.