Mt. Adams- Yakima County, WA– The King County Sheriff’s Office Guardian 2 helicopter was damaged Sunday, July 17th, 2016 when it struck a rock outcropping on Mt. Adams in Yakima County.
According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, Guardian 2 was assisting the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office with the search for a hiker who had fallen on Mt. Adams.
Preliminarily reports say it appears that the tail rotor was unable to move enough air to counteract the centrifugal force of the main rotor. This caused the aircraft to rotate about 1-½ times and the helicopter was damaged when it struck a rock outcropping.
The incident occurred during a search and rescue mission at around 8000 feet. Two occupants received minor strains at a result of the incident and one of the two skids on the bottom of the helicopter was damaged.
The general air worthiness of the helicopter was not affected and the pilot flew to a nearby airport in Yakima.
The Sheriff’s Office notified the F.A.A. as well as the N.T.S.B. who are conducting an investigation.
The helicopter is a 1970 UH-1H Huey that was recently rebuilt.
Photo: Courtesy of City of Yakima Fire Department
Information provided by King County Sheriff’s Office and the City of Yakima Fire Department.
As Shown above, Yakima Fire ARFF 94 and Station 94 crews prevented the helicopter from crashing as it attempted to land at the Spokane Airport by strategically placing pallets from Triumph Aviation to set the helicopter down without incident.
The missing man, Robert Burroughs of Stevenson, WA had called authorities to say he had fallen but crews were unable to locate him.
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