Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
East Cameron 78, -- 00000
Thursday, October 18, 2001 9:40 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was in cruise flight at 500 feet msl, when the pilot heard a "thud," and the helicopter yawed left. The engine lost power, and the pilot initiated an autorotation to the water. According to the pilot, he turned the helicopter to the right into the wind and "before the completion of the turn, the hydraulics quit." The helicopter landed "hard" on the water and rolled over. The pilot reported to the operator that he had deployed the emergency floats; however, an examination of the helicopter revealed that the floats had not been deployed. An examination of the fuel system revealed that the fire-shield to fuel nozzle fuel supply line contained no fuel. The contents of the fuel filter was tested and it was determined that the it contained 10 percent fuel and 90 percent sea water. All three fuel cells were empty; however, all three cells were compromised. According to the helicopter manufacturer's representative, "the damage observed on the main rotor hub and blades is consistent with what would be expected as a result of impact of a slow turning rotor. Examination of the airframe and engine did not disclose any structural or mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The hard landing due to the pilot's failure to maintain proper main rotor rpm. Contributing factors were the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's failure to deploy the emergency floats.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | East Cameron 78 |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 291746N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0925248W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LCH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 15 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 55 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| 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) | 20.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13682 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 19 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 23 2003 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N348AL |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51386 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 8282.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR LOGISTICS L L C |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4605 Industrial Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | New Iberia |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70560 |
| 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 | ALGA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Vermilion 289 |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 15LA |
| Destination City | Creole |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2003 8:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |