Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mariquita Colombia
Wednesday, March 26, 1997 7:57 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On March 26, 1997, at 0757 eastern standard time, a Bell UH-1H helicopter, Colombian registration PNC160, was destroyed following a loss of control while maneuvering near Mariquita, Colombia. The flight instructor and the student pilot sustained fatal injuries. The helicopter was registered to the Government of Colombia, and being operated by the National Police Flight School, on a local training flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight for which a VFR flight plan was filed. The instructional flight originated from the Mariquita Airport at 0710.
According to a witness near the airport, the helicopter was observed flying beyond the point where the turn from crosswind to downwind is normally made. The witness further stated that he observed the helicopter execute a 180 degree turn and head towards the airport while descending. The witness reported that when it was approximately 50 meters above the ground, the nose of the helicopter assumed a nose high attitude as he heard a change in the flapping sound of the helicopter. He stated that the nose pitched up to a near vertical position and continued around until the helicopter impacted the ground in a near vertical nose down attitude.
Examination of the wreckage at the accident site confirmed that the helicopter impacted the ground in a slight left bank, in a nose down attitude. A post-impact fire destroyed the helicopter. The accident is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Colombia. This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information released by the Government of Colombia.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/26/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 757 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | MARIQUITA |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | COLOMBIA |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 700 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MQU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 7000 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 27 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1035 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | FTW97RA151 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Non-Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-1H |
| Aircraft Serial Number | |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | BASE AEREA DE GUAYMARIL |
| Operator City | BOGOTA |
| Operator State | OF |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 00000 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MQU |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| 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 | -- |