Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Oak Grove, Louisiana 70632
Tuesady, January 21, 2003 16:50 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot encountered advection fog while flying to the beach from offshore. He made a right descending turn, and at 200 feet ran into fog and lost sight of the ground. The helicopter landed hard, separating the tailboom.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather conditions, and his improper landing flare resulting in a hard landing. A contributing factors was the fog.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/21/2003
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1650
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Oak Grove
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70632
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 294724N
Event Location Longitude 0931102W
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 Pilot
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 2600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0.25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 15
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15139
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jan 22 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1015
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2004 8:14AM
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 N5740L
NTSB Number FTW03LA088
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-1
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 45459
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 Dec 23 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 114.3
Airframe Hours 21446
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Air Logistics LLC
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 --
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 East Cameron 89
Departure State GM
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1630
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 15LA
Destination City Oak Grove
Destination State LA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2004 1:33PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --