Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Toledo, Ohio 43601
Friday, February 12, 1999 17:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight departed the hospital for a routine Night VFR patient pickup and transport. Approximately 5 miles from Toledo Express Airport, the pilot received Toledo Express' current weather which included 1/4 mile in heavy snow showers. The pilot aborted the flight. Twenty seconds later Toledo advised the pilot that visibility had improved to 3 miles. Also, a company pilot operating in the vicinity of the pilot's destination, reported 2 to 3 miles of visibility, and a couple of snow squalls that could easily be circumnavigated. With this information the pilot elected to resume the mission, but once on course, he still felt flight conditions were inadequate. He aborted the flight for a second time. While en route to the departure point, the helicopter entered IMC. According to the flight nurse 'the pilot was fighting the helicopter with both hands.' The flight doctor stated that he lost visual contact with the ground for approximately 2 minutes, and regained it just before impact. The helicopter impacted a tree, and then a house seriously injuring the three occupants. In addition, the weather forecast obtained by the pilot prior to departure did not match actual conditions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's decision to continue the flight which resulted in inadvertent flight into IMC, and the subsequent spatial disorientation and loss of control. A factor in the accident was the inaccuracy of the weather forecast.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/12/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | TOLEDO |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 43601 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1714 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 247 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TOL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 684 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 75 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 12 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1945 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 27 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N355MF |
| NTSB Number | NYC99LA059 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | 355 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 355 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5100 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5291 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 10 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 3608 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SOUTHWEST HELICOPTERS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6666 SOUTH PLUMER |
| Aircraft Owner City | TUCSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85706 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CORPORATE JET INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 15 ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT |
| Operator City | WEST MIFFLIN |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 15122 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | TOLEDO |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | TOLEDO |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 27 2001 4:06AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | Discretionary |