Accident occurred Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at Ketchikan, AK
Aircraft:Robinson R-44, registration: N7189T
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On August 28, 2002, about 2045 Alaska daylight time, a Robinson R-44 helicopter, N7189T, sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with water at Winstanley Lake, about 40 miles east of Ketchikan, Alaska. The helicopter was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot and the sole passenger received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed Ketchikan about 2015.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 28, a flight service specialist from the Ketchikan Flight Service Station (FSS) said an airplane flying over Winstanley Lake reported seeing a helicopter floating upside down on the lake. The FSS specialist said he had spoken with the pilot of the accident helicopter the afternoon of August 27, and the pilot said he would return from Winstanley Lake around noon on August 28. He said when the helicopter didn't return, he asked a charter pilot transiting the area to check the lake for the helicopter.

During a personal interview with the IIC on August 29, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety inspector (ASI) said he interviewed the line person at the Ketchikan airport who fueled the accident helicopter during the evening of August 27. He said he was told that after fueling the pilot said he and the passenger were headed for Winstanley Lake to spend the night. The pilot said he would return to Ketchikan on August 28. The line person said the helicopter departed Ketchikan about 2015.