Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
S Marsh Is 7
Wednesday, December 27, 1989 11:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER HAD BEEN LOADED NEAR ITS MAX GROSS WT LIMIT OF 4150 LBS. THE PLT RPRTD THAT DURING AN APCH TO AN OFFSHORE PLATFORM IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, THERE WAS VIRTUALLY NO WIND. AS THE APCH SPEED DROPPED BELOW EFFECTIVE TRANSLATIONAL LIFT, THE PLT NOTED A SHUDDER THAT DID NOT SEEM NORMAL, SO HE INITIATED A GO-AROUND. AS HE APPLIED POWER & PEDAL TO GO AROUND, THE ACFT SPUN TO THE RGT & THE NOSE TUCKED. THE PLT TRIED TO CORRECT THE SITUATION, BUT WAS UNABLE. HE RPRTD THAT JUST BEFORE WATER IMPACT HE LEVELED THE HELICOPTER, DEPLOYED THE EMERG FLOATS & APPLIED FULL COLLECTIVE PITCH. ALSO, HE STATED THE RATE OF SPIN DECREASED AS HE APPLIED COLLECTIVE PITCH. ONE OF THE LEFT FLOATS SEPARATED ON WATER ENTRY & THE HELICOPTER ROLLED OVER. NO FEEDBACK OR RESTRICTION OF THE CONTROLS WAS NOTED BEFORE IMPACT. A POST-ACDNT EXAM OF THE HELICOPTER DID NOT REVEAL ANY PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE AND CORRECT A SITUATION INVOLVING LOSS OF TAIL ROTOR EFFECTIVENESS, RESULTING IN LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/27/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | S MARSH IS 7 |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| 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 | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 125 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1148 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 7R4 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2203 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 27 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1612 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 41964 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3913S |
| NTSB Number | FTW90FA046 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| 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 | 45666 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 25 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 8764 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Operator Name | AIR LOGISTICS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3921 INDUSTRIAL DRIVE |
| Operator City | NEW IBERIA |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 70560 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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 | NONE |
| Departure City | GRAND CHENIER |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1110 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | -- |