Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cochise County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wilcox, Arizona 85643
Friday, December 22, 2000 3:31 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 20 feet above the touchdown point, the pilot doubled over due to severe cramping, inadvertently moving the cyclic forward and to the right causing the main rotor blades to contact the ground. The helicopter came to rest on its side. The pilot tried to drink a glass of tea about 2 hours before the mission, but discarded it because it tasted bad. He felt a little discomfort during the mission when he detected the tea taste again. After the mission he felt better and did not expect any problems on the return to base. About 5 minutes from the base hospital, nausea, sweating, and cramps suddenly overcame the pilot, and he began to retch. It was a dark, moonless night, and rough terrain was below him. The airport was at his 12 o'clock position at 5 miles, so he elected to fly there rather than attempt an off-airport landing. He requested a sick sack about 1 minute prior to landing.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's incapacitation that resulted from nausea during the final approach to landing. The pilot collapsed on the cyclic, which precipitated inadvertent contact between the main rotor blades and the ground. Factors were hilly terrain on a dark night, which discouraged the pilot from attempting to land at the first signs of discomfort.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/22/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 331 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | WILCOX |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85643 |
| 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 | COCHISE COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | P33 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 4181 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 252 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 72 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 54 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 43 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Minor |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10935 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 22 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2001 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N288JB |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA063 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206-L3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206-L3 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51288 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 29 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 46 |
| Airframe Hours | 3277 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CRITICAL AIR MEDICAL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4141 KEARNY VILLARD |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN DIEGO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92123 |
| 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 | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | 121E |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | TUSCON |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | P33 |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 1:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 6094 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |