Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cabinda Angola
Wednesday, December 1, 1999 17:00
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On December 1, 1999, at approximately 1700 GMT, a Bell 206L-1 helicopter, N5005B, was substantially damaged upon impact with the water following a loss of engine power during takeoff from an offshore oil exploration platform near Cabinda, Republic of Angola. The instrument rated commercial pilot and one of his passengers were seriously injured. Another passenger was fatally injured. The single engine helicopter was owned and operated by Petroleum Helicopters Inc., (PHI) of Lafayette, Louisiana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the on-demand air taxi flight for which a company flight plan was filed. The flight's destination was the oil company's base at Cabinda, approximately 28 miles to the east of the platform. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The 18,200-hour pilot reported to the operator that during initial takeoff from the platform, he heard a loud bang coming from the area of the engine. Subsequently, the helicopter descended rapidly to the ocean, landed hard, rolled over, and sank. The surviving passenger confirmed the pilot's description of the event. The emergency float system for the helicopter was not activated. The helicopter was located with the aid of a side scan radar system within 8 hours of the accident.
The investigation is under the jurisdiction and control of the Government of the Republic of Angola. Any further information may be obtained from:
Direccao Nacional de Aviacao Civil Rua Miguel de Melo No. 96, 6e Andar Caixa Postal 569 Luanda, Angola Telephone (244)233-8596
This report is for informational purposes only and contains only information released by or obtained for the Government of the Republic of Angola.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/1/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | CABINDA |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | ANGOLA |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Not Reported |
| 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) | 10 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 0 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 1 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1135 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2001 10:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5005B |
| NTSB Number | FTW00RA039 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Unknown |
| Aircraft Explosion | Unknown |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206-L1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206-L1 |
| 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? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 113 BORMAN DRIVE |
| Operator City | LAFAYETTE |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 70508 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2001 10:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| 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 | -- |