Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
High Island 116
Tuesady, December 26, 2000 21:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the dark night, CFR Part 135 cargo, offshore flight over the Gulf of Mexico, the single-engine helicopter did not reached the destination platform. As of April 2002, the commercial pilot and the helicopter are missing. The pilot is presumed fatal, and the aircraft is presumed destroyed. Search efforts were hampered by weather including 8 to 10 foot seas, wind from 25 to 44 knots, thunderstorms, rain, fog, and visibilities between 0 and 3 miles with a cloud ceiling ranging from 200 to 600 feet. During the multiple air and surface searches, covering in excess of 7,000 square miles, no wreckage or debris was recovered. The 61 year-old pilot had accumulated over 15,000 flight hours. The pilot flew 950.6 hours in the previous calendar year, 298.7 hours in the previous quarter, and 108.4 hours in the current month. The pilot's flight/duty day began at 0800 and he had accumulated 7 flight hours prior to his last communication with dispatch. The helicopter was equipped with fixed floats; however, aside from the pilot's life vest, there was no overwater survival equipment aboard the helicopter. The helicopter was neither equipped nor certified for flight in IMC. A GPS and a telephone were installed in the helicopter. Total airframe time was 17,843.6 hours with 28.5 hours accumulated since the last continuous airworthiness inspection. The meteorological conditions probably existing near the destination platform were: cloud bases near 700 feet, flight visibility 0 in the clouds and near 3 miles below the lowest cloud base, light turbulence below 5,000 feet, and winds southerly at 22 to 29 knots.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
undetermined, missing aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/26/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 2130 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | HIGH ISLAND 116 |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2153 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BPT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 15 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 12068 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 26 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 26 2002 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N83137 |
| NTSB Number | FTW01FAMS1 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1015 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 17 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 28.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 17843.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DUDLEY TARLTON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3000 WESLAYAN ST STE 320 |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77027 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | GVTA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | South Marsh |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | High Island 116 |
| Destination State | GM |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 11 2006 2:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| 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 | -- |