Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Eugene Island 193 Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eugene Is. 193
Wednesday, March 17, 1999 13:02 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that as soon as he lifted the helicopter off the platform, he 'felt that something wasn't normal.' He added that he was '2 feet off the deck and turning to the left at the same time.' The surviving passenger stated that it felt as if 'the rear end of the aircraft either got pushed or pulled down.' He added that the nose pitched up violently and then the helicopter bounced (from side-to-side) on the platform. The pilot realized that he did not have enough room to land, and pulled up on the collective in an attempt to get away from the platform. The helicopter then rolled inverted and descended into the water on the north side of the platform. Examination of the platform revealed that the hatch door located on the west end of the platform had a handle that was bent and deformed. On the bottom side of the deformed handle there was a rolled gouge of metal. Under the gouge there was a paint chip. The helicopter's left spring-steel extension had the paint scraped off the upper outboard corner along the length of the extension. Paint analysis and geometric evaluation of the handle and the extension revealed that the paint chip found on the handle and the paint on the spring-steel extension were similar, and that the deformation on the handle coincided with the placement of the extension under the handle.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of control as a result of the spring-steel extension becoming entangled with the hatch door handle during takeoff. A contributing factor was the flat design of the spring-steel extension.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/17/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1302 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | EUGENE IS. 193 |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | EUGENE ISLAND 193 |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 193 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 100 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1315 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 8 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PTN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 60 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 658 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1949 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 17 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 3:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6100R |
| NTSB Number | FTW99FA094 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | AS-350-B2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS-350-B2 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2862 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 9 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 5228 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BANC ONE LEASING CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1111 POLARIS PARKWAY SUITE A3 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLUMBUS |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 43240 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 90808 |
| Operator City | LAFAYETTE |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 70509 |
| Operator Code | HEEA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 193 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1302 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 177 |
| Destination City | EUGENE IS. 177 |
| Destination State | GM |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2001 4:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 24 |
| Runway Width | 24 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |