WPR13FA119

The pilot's decision to conduct a flight in dark night conditions with an illuminated cockpit light that degraded his visibility and his ability to identify and arrest the helicopter's descent while maneuvering, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.

***This report was modified on October 1, 2015. Please see the docket for this accident to view the original report.** The pilot was hired to fly the helicopter for the production of a reality television show. The tentative plan scripted for the production shoot called for an actor to drop a backpack to the ground while the helicopter was in a hover to enable the cameras to film the airborne actor, the backpack receiver on the ground, and the helicopter executing the mission. Two shots were needed of the backpack being dropped, and they were to be done by two different actors at two separate locations at a movie ranch; the accident occurred during the filming of the second shot. Recovered audio and video recordings from inside the helicopter revealed that the first bag-drop flight occurred around 2100, lasted about an hour, and consisted of four actual bag drops. During the first flight, the pilot made numerous comments about not being able to see the drop zone due to the dark night conditions and had the actor guide him with verbalized visual cues to ensure that the helicopter remained clear of trees. Several of the pilot's comments indicate that he was trying to be amenable to the production company's requests, and, although he did not directly communicate that he could not comply with some of them, he repeatedly remarked on the limited visibility and the brightness of a flexible light pad affixed to the center windshield frame in the cockpit. After the flight, he expressed his appreciation to the ground crew for not pressuring him and giving him the opportunity to perform multiple passes. The second bag-drop location was on a plateau close to the landing zone and was situated about 85 ft above a dry riverbed. The plan was for the helicopter to maneuver toward the plateau while ascending from the riverbed. There were no lights in the river valley; however, the production crew had placed lights on the plateau and glowsticks and another light on the sloping terrain leading up from the riverbed to the top of the plateau. The flight began around 0330 and was conducted with the pilot in the right-front seat, the actor in the left-front seat, and the camera operator in the left-rear seat. The flexible light pad was cupped to direct the light toward the actor's face. Before takeoff, the camera operator asked the pilot if they could try to use the light pad, and the pilot responded, "we'll see, it just really [sigh] blinds me." The camera operator then showed the actor how to operate the light pad. The actor turned it on to the lowest setting, and the camera operator remarked that it was bright but that they would see what the pilot thought; the pilot did not comment. During the initial takeoff and while maneuvering over the dry riverbed, the actor continued with scripted dialogue for about a minute until the pilot intervened to state that he needed the light pad turned off. The camera operator acknowledged him and informed the actor to turn off the light by pressing a button twice. The actor leaned forward to turn off the light, and, 8 seconds later, the camera operator announced, "where did uh, we're going down low," indicating that he was temporarily disoriented and then noted that they were descending. The actor cycled through the light's settings and eventually turned it off while the pilot simultaneously stated, "okay, okay, I can't." The camera operator interrupted saying, "pull up, pull up." The helicopter subsequently impacted terrain in the dry riverbed. Postaccident examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot recognized on the first flight that he was operating with reduced/no visibility and with a bright light in the cockpit that "blinded" him when it was on but chose to proceed with both flights likely because he believed that was what was required to fulfill the production requirements. Despite recognizing the hazards of the operation and relaying his concerns to the ground crew and camera operator, the pilot was the only person knowledgeable about helicopters. As the pilot, he was responsible for the safe operation of the helicopter and should have initiated the measures necessary to ensure that the helicopter's internal lighting and the lighting on the ground would enable him to conduct the flight in a safe manner. The accident occurred during the hours of darkness on a moonless night over minimally lighted terrain. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidance, these conditions can result in illusions that make it difficult for a pilot to visually determine altitude, depth perception, and orientation, and often create the illusion that the aircraft is at a higher altitude than it actually is. Additionally temporary blindness, caused by an unusually bright light, may result in illusions or after images until the eyes recover from the brightness. Based on the dark night conditions, the minimal ground lighting, the bright light in the cockpit, and the absence of preimpact mechanical anomalies, the pilot was likely temporarily blinded by the light, lost visual reference to the ground, and then flew the helicopter into the ground. Before the accident flight, the company submitted, and an FAA inspector subsequently accepted, a proposed Motion Picture Plan of Activities.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On February 10, 2013, about 0330 Pacific standard time, a Bell Helicopter 206B JetRanger, N59518, collided with terrain shortly after departing from a landing zone (LZ) on a movie ranch near Acton, California. Orbic Air, LLC was operating the helicopter under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The commercial pilot and two passengers (an actor and a camera-operator) sustained fatal injuries; the helicopter sustained substantial damage. The local flight departed the LZ about one minute prior to the accident for the purpose of shooting an aerial video sequence. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The helicopter was being used for the filming of a reality television show. The pilot and several members of the production crew had scouted the movie ranch location a few weeks prior, at which time they discussed the helicopter's maneuver possibilities, equipment needed, and filming planning. Following that meeting, the pilot filed a Plan of Action (POA) waiver with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the filming day was scheduled for the evening of February 9th. The tentative plan scripted for the production shoot called for an actor to drop a backpack to the ground while the helicopter was in a hover, enabling the cameras to film the airborne actor, the backpack receiver on the ground, and the helicopter executing the mission. There were two shots needed of the backpack being dropped, to be done by two different actors, at two separate locations, both of which were at the movie ranch. The pilot departed on February 9 about 1645 from the helicopter's base at Van Nuys Airport, Van Nuys, California, with about 55 gallons of fuel onboard and an additional 10 gallons of fuel in plastic containers. The helicopter arrived at the LZ, and about 1730, the pilot conducted a safety meeting with the production crewmembers, briefing them of the potential hazards of having the helicopter on-site. The pilot unloaded the fuel containers and removed the left-side doors. A Canon EOS 300PL video camera was used by the rear-seated camera operator on both a prior flight and the accident flight, as was a Sounds Devices 702T audio recorder. A GoPro Hero camera was installed on the upper windshield frame to film the actor on the accident flight. Additionally, a 3-mode FLEXiT flexible light pad was affixed to the center windshield frame with a grip clip and cupped to direct the light toward the actor's face for the purpose of the GoPro recording. The actor and camera-operator additionally had headlights with red and white light settings and there was a dim white map light installed on the helicopter between the actor and pilot on the bulkhead. NTSB investigators recovered audio and video recordings from these devices at the accident site, and a recorder specialist with the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Division downloaded and synced the files together and created a partial transcript that is contained within the Recorder Specialist's factual report available in the public docket for this accident. Prior Flight The first flight began around 2100 and was conducted with the pilot in the right-front seat, the actor in the left-front seat, and the camera operator in the left-rear seat. The flight's duration was about an hour and consisted of the pilot performing four bag drops over a predetermined drop zone (an open clearing surrounded by trees) located a few hundred yards away from the LZ. While the helicopter made a pass over the drop zone, the actor would drop the backpack, and then they would return to the LZ to retrieve the backpack and discuss the necessary changes in the flight to capture the correct shot. Prior to departure, while the pilot was waiting for the engine to warm up, a conversation ensued between the pilot, actor, and camera operator about the lighting being used inside the helicopter. The camera operator stated that he wanted to ensure the pilot was comfortable with the FLEXiT light and instructed the actor to turn it on by clicking it 3 times. Upon the light coming on, the pilot responded "whoa, that is, that did change a bit." The camera operator then instructed the actor to "click it down, uh, once." The pilot stated "okay that's better," followed by making a request to the actor to move the light a certain way the actor confirmed. The camera operator added "you know we can turn it off once we're airborne." The pilot did not make a verbal acknowledgement and began talking to the ground crew. The camera operator interjected to the actor about turning his headlight off. The camera operator then asked the pilot if the actor should turn his headlight off to which the pilot said yes. The helicopter departed and was en route to the drop zone when the pilot established communication with the ground crew again. He interrupted his communication and stated "okay, I gotta lose that light for right now guys," and "I can't see." About 10 seconds later, he told the actor that his headlight had to be turned off. Several seconds later the pilot communicated with the ground crew that they were "getting acclimated to the light here." As they neared the drop zone the actor asked, "want me to turn the light back on or we just staying with it off?" The pilot then told the actor that he would have to spot him because he was unable to see, which the actor acknowledged. After the bag drop, they returned to the LZ. Ground crew radioed the pilot to ask if it was possible for him to slow the helicopter down more over the drop zone. The pilot responded that he would do that and was "just getting acclimated" and could not "see anything and especially the ground that's underneath me." A little later, the ground crew stated "just to be clear, I know that you are having site issues, but the goal is a slow hover and then a drop from there," which the pilot acknowledged. The ground crew later asked if the pilot was able to see the glow sticks on the ground, and the actor told the pilot that he was able to see the glow sticks. The pilot then told the ground crew that the actor was able to see the glow sticks and said "I can't see anything, so he's got to walk me through." On the second bag-drop attempt, the pilot had to perform a go around stating that, "I can't uhh see where the ground is here." On the next attempt, the actor guided the pilot by giving visual cues near the bag drop zone for about 3 minutes until the bag drop occurred. About 15 seconds after, the ground crew asked, "is it possible to do an even slower hover than that?" The pilot responded by saying "yeah it's just uh, there's, I have to have a visual cue to see something around me." While en route back to the LZ, the pilot asked the ground crew if they could arrange with the vehicles located near the drop zone to turn their headlights on so he could have a sense of depth perception and would be able to see a little better. They briefly discussed how the bag drop went, and the pilot again said that if the headlights on the vehicles were illuminated then "I can see the ground and then I can judge my speed… I have no rate of speed up here." A few minutes later, after discussing the next drop briefly, the actor commented that he didn't have enough time to release the bag and told the pilot "to make sure it doesn't keep moving forward..." The pilot responded saying that would be difficult because there was "no depth perception… you can't see anything." Over the next eight minutes, there were requests from the ground crew and actor for the pilot to hold a hover to which the pilot replied that the helicopter was not capable of the hover they desired and that "the key to the hover is being able to see something." The third bag drop was accomplished and again there was discussion about the next drop with regard to the actor and ground crew requesting a low hover or for the pilot to reverse the h