NTSB Factual Report

On July 29, 2013, about 1045 eastern daylight time, a McDonnell Douglas Helicopter 369E, N1608D, operated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as a public use flight, was destroyed when it impacted terrain, following a collision with a utility wire in cruise flight near Jackson, Kentucky. The commercial pilot and passenger were seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local aerial observation flight that originated from London-Corbin Airport (LOZ), London, Kentucky, about 1015.

The operator reported that four utility wires had run between two ridges to support a mine, which had long been closed. Over time, three of the four wires deteriorated and fell due to the natural elements. One wire remained, about 500 feet above the valley floor, and was the wire that the helicopter contacted.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the wire between the ridges was unmarked and uncharted. As the mine was closed, there was nobody to report the wire to the FAA for addition on the appropriate sectional chart. The helicopter had been flying between the ridges and contacted the wire. The helicopter subsequently descended into a valley and a postcrash fire consumed the wreckage. The inspector added that the helicopter was equipped with two wire cutters, one near the bottom of the fuselage and one near the top of the fuselage; however, the wire contact was with the rotorhead, which was located above the top wire cutter.

NTSB Probable Cause

The helicopter pilot's inadvertent collision with an unmarked and uncharted utility wire of which he was unaware.