NTSB Factual Report

On April 18, 2016, about 1224 central daylight time, a Bell model 206-L4 single-engine helicopter, N119SP, was substantially damaged during a hard landing near Arden Hills, Minnesota. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries. The public-use helicopter was registered to and operated by Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local training flight that departed the Arden Hills Army Training Site about 1140.

According to the operator, the accident occurred during a Minnesota Aviation Rescue Team (MART) training mission that was comprised of St. Paul Fire Department and Minnesota State Patrol personnel. The purpose of the training was to practice having the fire department personnel mount and demount the helicopter skids following a pinnacle approach and landing. The pinnacle landings were made to several conex shipping containers that were located within the training site. One of the firefighters had a helmet camera that partially captured the accident sequence-of-events. The firefighter was positioned on top of a shipping container and was preparing to mount the helicopter when the accident occurred. His helmet camera footage showed the helicopter approach and land on the shipping container. However, before he and his partner were able to mount the helicopter skids, the helicopter lifted off and moved forward away from the shipping container. The helicopter then descended and impacted terrain in between two additional shipping containers. The helmet camera footage was retained for additional analysis. The helicopter wreckage was recovered from the accident site to a secured hangar for additional examination.