Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vallejo, California 94590
Friday, October 25, 1991 21:56 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE CERTIFICATED AIRLINE PILOT AND TWO PASSENGERS DEPARTED IN A HELICOPTER FOR THE PLANNED DESTINATION AIRPORT, LOCATED ABOUT 27 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE DEPARTURE POINT. THE PILOT RECEIVED A WEATHER BRIEFING IN WHICH VFR FLIGHT WAS NOT RECOMMENDED DUE TO LOW CEILINGS AND LOW VISIBILITY. THE PILOT WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE GEOGRAPHIC AREA. THE PILOT RECEIVED A SPECIAL VFR CLEARANCE THROUGH AN AIRPORT TRAFFIC AREA, DEPARTING TO THE NORTHWEST. ABOUT 20 MILES FROM THE DEPARTURE POINT, WITNESSES OBSERVED THE HELICOPTER PARALLELING A HIGHWAY AT ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. THE WEATHER WAS REPORTED TO BE A 200 FOOT OVERCAST CEILING, GUSTY WINDS, HEAVY RAIN, AND VISIBILITY OF ABOUT 1/2 MILE. THE WITNESSES OBSERVED THE HELICOPTER STRIKE THE TOP OF A 223 FOOT HIGH TRANSMISSION TOWER AND EXPLODE. THE LOCATION OF THE TRANSMISSION LINE WAS MARKED ON THE AREA SECTIONAL CHART.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S INTENTIONAL FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER, CONTINUED FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, AND IMPROPER ALTITUDE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS LOW CEILINGS, POOR VISIBILITY, AND RESTRICTED VISUAL LOOKOUT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/25/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2156 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | VALLEJO |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94590 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Heavy |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1924 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 45860 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3456M |
| NTSB Number | LAX92LA029 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1391 |
| 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 5 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7 |
| Airframe Hours | 6279 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CORPORATE MOBILITY, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 1994 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94101 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | CORPORATE MOBILITY, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 1994 |
| Operator City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 94101 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | CONCORD |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2139 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | O56 |
| Destination City | NOVATO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |