Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Vermilion 200 Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
E. Cameron 200, -- 00000
Saturday, October 28, 2000 16:37 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter departed from a helipad located on an offshore oil platform, and was 3 minutes from landing at a refueling helipad on another platform, when the pilot transmitted two distress calls indicating the helicopter was "going down." There were no witnesses to the accident; however, 9 minutes after the distress calls were heard, the helicopter was found floating inverted in 3-4 foot seas. Subsequently, the helicopter sank and was later recovered and examined. Examination of the helicopter revealed no anomalies with the airframe or flight control systems. Examination of the engine revealed that the first and second stage turbine blades were fractured due to extreme heating. One blade of the second stage tubine disk had liberated from its retention slot, and all the blade roots and retention slots of this disk exhibited permanent outboard deformation, due to a combination of centripetal forces from engine operation and excessive heat. In contrast, the blade roots and retention slots of the first stage turbine disk did not exhibit evidence of outboard deformation, most likely since they were located further away from the heat source. The rear bearing assembly (located aft of the second stage disk) was contaminated with coke. The coking suggests that oil was leaking from the engine and migrating from the rear bearing assembly. The aft side of the second stage turbine disk displayed dark stain marks in the form of streaks. A passage exists that would allow oil to flow from the rear bearing to the aft face of the second stage turbine disk. Oil that strikes the disk would flow into the hot stream of gases and auto-ignite, starting a fire. Oil migration can occur if the rear bearing scavenge and vent tubes become blocked; however, the scavenge and vent tubes were checked during the engine examination and were not found blocked.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power due to an internal engine oil leak that started an internal engine fire and the pilot's inadequate autorotation which resulted in a hard landing. A contributing factor to the accident was the rough water condition.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/28/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1637 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | E. Cameron 200 |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 284417N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0923748W |
| Event Location Airport | Vermilion 200 |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | V200 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11991 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 28 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N26WW |
| NTSB Number | FTW01FA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS-350BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS-350BA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1229 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4630 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 24 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 3 |
| Airframe Hours | 6734 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Textron Financial Corporation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9001 Airport Freeway, Suite 800 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Worth |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76180 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Tex-Air Helicopters Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8919 Paul B. Koonce Street |
| Operator City | Houston |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77061 |
| Operator Code | TXEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | E. Cameron 231A |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | -- |
| Departure Time | 1630 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Vermillion 200 |
| Destination State | GM |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2002 6:36PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SNYG |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |