Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Flamingo, Florida 33034
Monday, September 30, 1996 12:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
This flight was on a mission of taking water samples in the everglades. The pilots stated that while taking off from a level site, covered with about 4-6 inches of water, and moderately covered with mangrove vegetation, the wire strike protection guide 'made contact with a mangrove plant branch...causing the nose to pitch down while the helicopter was trying to transition to forward flight.' The helicopter rolled to the right causing the rotor blade to strike the ground. The National Park Service (NPS) was providing flight following for the flight, and the pilot was to report every 15 minutes. The flight had 7 minutes remaining before the next report was to be made, when the accident occurred. What was not known to the pilot was, the flight following dispatcher had closed after the last report, and the pilot was not notified of the situation. The helicopter's emergency transmitter locator (ELT) did not operate after the crash, and no one was aware of the accident until a ground crew member became concerned when he had not heard from the flight for about 5 hours. The ground crew member checked with NPS personnel, and expressed his concern. The occupants stayed with the wreckage until about 1845, when they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Examination and a functional test on the ELT revealed that the 'ON-OFF-ARM' switch was not working. Disassembly of the ELT did not expose the interior of the switch, and there was no determination made on why the switch malfunctioned.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the wire strike protection guide became entangled in a mangrove branch which resulted in helicopter control not being maintained.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | FLAMINGO |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33034 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | Pilot |
| 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 | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 135 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1651 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 30 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:22AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2113Z |
| NTSB Number | MIA96TA236 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B III |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4067 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 29 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 2671 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | US DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2350 WEST ROBINSON RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOISE |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83705 |
| 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 | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LNA |
| Departure City | LANTANA |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | -- |