NTSB CAROL · Event
Event ANC20CA070
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to see and avoid the boat's mast, which resulted in a main rotor blade strike. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight planning by not having the boat's mast measured.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during maneuvering for external load operations to a boat, the helicopter suddenly began to shake violently. He immediately realized the helicopter had struck the boat with the main rotor blades; he jettisoned the 50 ft longline, the skid-based emergency flotation system was activated, and the helicopter landed on the water without further incident. A post-accident examination revealed that the helicopter had struck the boat's mast and sustained substantial damage to the two main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot further added, he should have measured the boat mast height prior to operation instead of visually estimating the height and instead used a 100 ft long-line. The pilot reported that, during maneuvering for external load operations to a boat, the helicopter suddenly began to shake violently. He immediately realized the helicopter had struck the boat with the main rotor blades; he jettisoned the 50 ft longline, the skid-based emergency flotation system was activated, and the helicopter landed on the water without further incident. A post-accident examination revealed that the helicopter had struck the boat's mast and sustained substantial damage to the two main rotor blades. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot further added, he should have measured the boat mast height prior to operation instead of visually estimating the height and instead used a 100 ft long-line. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Task monitoring/vigilance-Pilot - C
- F Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-(general)-Pilot - F
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tower/antenna (incl guy wires)-Effect on operation
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2020_ANC20CA070.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.