Event CEN16LA182

Factual narrative

On May 13, 2016, about 0715 central daylight time, a Bell 47G-3B-1 helicopter, N48316, collided with a service truck during takeoff near Portia, Arkansas. One person on the ground was fatally injured. The helicopter was substantially damaged and the pilot was not injured. The helicopter was registered to and operated by Hammock Flying Services INC under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 137 as an aerial application flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.According to the pilot, the helicopter landed on an elevated wood platform located on top of the service truck. After being loaded with fuel and a herbicide mixture, the helicopter started to lift off. The helicopter's skid caught a piece of the elevated platform and the pilot attempted to free the helicopter due adding power and pitching forward. The pilot was unable to free the helicopter and lost control of the helicopter was it continued to pitch forward. The main rotors contacted the service truck and the helicopter impacted terrain. Substantial damage was sustained to the helicopter's main rotors, tail boom, and fuselage. Debris from the helicopter struck and fatally injured a person on the ground. An examination of the helicopter revealed substantial damage to the helicopter's main rotors, tail boom, and fuselage. Examination of the landing platform revealed that a large deck screw had backed out of the platform. Damage to the platform was consistent with the helicopter's right skid catching the raised screw during the lift off. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident. In addition, he did not recall inspecting the landing platform the morning of the accident. The operator reported that they are in the processing of upgrading the service trucks. The improvements included self-locking hardware for the screws on the platforms to prevent the regular deck screw from backing out. In addition, the other trucks included extra railings to protect the service person. While departing from an elevated wood platform, the pilot elected to make a sliding takeoff, and after the helicopter's skids had slid forward about 2.5 ft, the skid plate on the bottom of the helicopter's right skid caught on a raised deck screw that had backed out of the platform. The pilot attempted to free the skid by applying power and pitching the helicopter forward. As the skid broke free, the helicopter pivoted forward and yawed to the right.  The helicopter impacted the ground in a near-vertical attitude, and the main rotor blades contacted the service truck's cab.  An individual on the ground was struck and fatally injured by debris from the helicopter. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident, and did not recall inspecting the landing platform the morning of the accident. 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 Environmental issues-Operating environment-Airport facilities/design-Runway/landing area condition-Effect on equipment - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• F Personnel issues-Task performance-Inspection-Preflight inspection-Pilot - F