Aerospatiale SA319B accident near Port Alsworth, Alaska, September 24, 2006
On September 24, 2006, a Aerospatiale SA319B (helicopter), registered N119PH, was substantially damaged in an accident near Port Alsworth, Alaska. It was an external-load flight under external-load helicopter rules (Part 133). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to adequately secure the external load rigging of an airplane that was suspended from the helicopter, which resulted in a load shift during cruise flight, producing an abrupt nose-down attitude, and the severing of the tailrotor drive shaft by the main rotor blades.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 24, 2006
- Place
- Port Alsworth, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Aerospatiale SA319B
- Registration
- N119PH · registry record · serial 2119
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- External-load flight · external-load helicopter rules (Part 133)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During a Title 14, CFR Part 133 flight, the commercial certificated pilot was transporting a previously crashed airplane on a 100 foot external load line. The external load line was attached to a spreader bar that was attached to the wing structure of the airplane. While flying about 60 knots, and about 2,000 feet above ground level (agl), the pilot felt the load shift, becoming light, or unloaded, and he began to slow the helicopter's airspeed. The helicopter then suddenly pitched nose-down about 45 degrees. The tail boom of the helicopter was struck by one or more main rotor blades, severing the tail rotor drive shaft. The pilot released the external load from the belly of the helicopter and entered an autorotation. About 1,000 feet agl, the pilot shut the engine off, and performed a touch down autorotation. During the landing on soft tundra, one of the main landing gear wheels dug into the terrain, and the helicopter's tail boom was struck by the main rotor blades, severing about two feet of the aft end of the tail boom. The pilot did not determine the cause of the external load shift.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 12,200 hours in all; 1,600 in this make and model; 200 in the last 90 days; 80 in the last 30 days; 12,100 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: September 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,914 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, April 1, 2006; 34 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 4,960 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Turbomeca Astazou 14 (turboshaft); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PALJ Port Alsworth AK at 5:00 pm
- Destination: Port Alsworth AK
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 135° at 12 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 7,000 ft
- Temperature: 50°F (10°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N119PH the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.