Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gustavus, Alaska 99826
Tuesady, August 30, 1994 21:30 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT WAS LANDING ON THE BEACH AT DUSK, AND IT WAS DARKER THAN HE HAD EXPECTED. THE AREA WAS COVERED BY A SHADOW FROM A MOUNTAIN. HE ABORTED HIS FIRST APPROACH AFTER REALIZING HIS RATE OF DESCENT AND APPROACH SPEED WERE TOO FAST. HE STATED THAT THE SECOND APPROACH APPEARED NORMAL, AND AT THE LAST MOMENT SAW THE RIPPLES ON THE WATER, TRIED TO PULL UP, BUT THE HELICOPTER IMPACTED THE WATER, NOSED OVER, AND FLOATED UPSIDE DOWN. THE PILOT STATED THAT HIS EYES DID NOT HAVE TIME TO ADJUST TO THE DIFFERENCE IN THE LIGHTING CONDITIONS HE ENCOUNTERED DURING THE APPROACH. HE REPORTED A TOTAL NIGHT FLIGHT TIME OF 267 HRS, WITH 0.4 HRS WITHIN THE PRECEDING 90 DAYS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT MISJUDGED HIS DISTANCE/ALTITUDE FROM THE LANDING AREA, AND HIS LACK OF RECENT NIGHT FLYING EXPERIENCE. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO ASSURE THAT HE WOULD BE LANDING WITH SUFFICIENT LIGHT, AND THE DUSK/DARK LIGHT CONDITION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/1994 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | GUSTAVUS |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99826 |
| Event Date Year | 1994 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1574 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 31 1994 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 6 2000 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N382EH |
| NTSB Number | ANC94LA110 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | B-206 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | B-206 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1635 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 5 1994 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39 |
| Airframe Hours | 8910 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ERA HELICOPTERS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6160 SOUTH AIRPARK DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99502 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | ERAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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 | |
| Departure City | REID BEACH |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2110 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |