Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Portland, Maine 04102
Friday, November 19, 1993 20:39 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT STATED THAT HE HAD DEPARTED PORTLAND EARLIER WITH 2 HR 45 MIN OF FUEL TO PICK UP THE PATIENT AT ELLSWORTH. HE STATED THAT HIS TOTAL CAPACITY WAS ABOUT 57O LBS, AND THE FUEL BURN FOR THE HELICOPTER WAS 200-220 LBS/HR. HE SAID THE 97 NM FLIGHT IS NORMALLY COMPLETED UNDER 1 HR, BUT TOOK 1 HR 10 MIN DUE TO WINDS. HE THEN DEPARTED ELLSWORTH WITH 310 LBS OF FUEL FOR THE RETURN FLIGHT. DURING THE RETURN FLIGHT TO PORTLAND HE ENCOUNTERED INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AND A 'SUBSTANTTIAL HEAD WIND OF 40 TO 60 KNOTS.' WHILE BEING VECTORED INTO PORTLAND THE ENGINE QUIT AND THE HELICOPTER DITCHED IN THE OCEAN IN ROUGH SEAS 7 MI EAST OF THE AIRPORT. ACCORDING TO THE COMPANY OPERATIONS MANUAL FOR EMS PROCEDURES, IT STATES IN PART, 'THE MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE WEATHER IS IN VFR CONDITIONS...'.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, AND HIS FAILURE TO ASSURE THAT ADEQUATE FUEL WAS AVAILABLE TO COMPLETE THE FLIGHT, RESULTING IN A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FUEL EXHAUSTION. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE WEATHER, THE DARK NIGHT AND THE ROUGH SEA CONDITION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/19/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2039 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | PORTLAND |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04102 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2141 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PWM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 74 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2042 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 19 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911ME |
| NTSB Number | BFO94FA013 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206L-1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45553 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 12 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 34 |
| Airframe Hours | 2220 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRMED SKYCARE INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 100 YELLOWBIRD RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | PORTLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | ME |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 04102 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ECHO HELICOPTER INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 100 YELLOWBIRD ROAD |
| Operator City | PORTLAND |
| Operator State | ME |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 04102 |
| Operator Code | ECHA |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | ELLSWORTH |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1912 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| 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 | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |