Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pohnpei
Wednesday, September 1, 1999 10:00

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter took off from the fishing vessel to conduct tuna spotting operations, and crashed under unknown circumstances approximately 1 1/2 hours later. The pilot had made routine communication with the ship captain via radio about 10 minutes before the accident. No emergency calls were received by the ship. The helicopter was about 30 miles away from the ship at the time of the accident. The ship's crewmembers located only the helicopter's floats, pieces of the airframe, and the engine. The ship captain reported that the sea was flat and clear. There were no birds or fish noted around the accident site. The pilot had been on the ship since August 25, 1999, and had flown about 4 hours. The captain and crew reported that the pilot, who also performed duties as the mechanic, had not mentioned any mechanical problems with the aircraft. The operator estimated that the helicopter had approximately 64 gallons of fuel on board when it departed. No debris or contamination was noted in the fuel samples. The engine did not reveal any preimpact damage and appeared to have been rotating at the time of impact.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

An in-flight collision with the water for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/1/1999
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone --
Event City POHNPEI
Event State PACIFIC OCEAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site
Event Date Year 1999
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 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 Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 30
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
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 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) 1625
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 1 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2112
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 10:05AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N42054
NTSB Number LAX99LA292
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Hughes
Aircraft Model 369HS
Aircraft Series Identifier 369HS
Aircraft Serial Number 520379S
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 22 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 4
Airframe Hours 4716
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HOFFMAN HELICOPTERS INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 111 KOLEPBLA COURT
Aircraft Owner City YONA
Aircraft Owner State GU
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96914
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) Aerial Observation
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code
Departure City FISHING VESSEL
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 830
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 10 2001 12:27PM
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 --