Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Okeechobee, Florida 34972
Tuesady, December 16, 2003 19:08 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was conducting a night positioning flight and encountered instrument flight conditions. The pilot did not follow company procedures for instrument flight conditions, and lost control of the helicopter due to spatial disorientation. The helicopter entered a spiraling decent and collided with trees and ground. There were no mechanical anomalies with the helicopter. The pilot had logged 200 hours total time in the make and model helicopter, and no actual instrument time in any type of helicopter except for simulated instrument flight time. According to the company written procedures the pilot was required to follow the checklist which stated in part, "Fly the aircraft, climb to altitude, do not get in a hurry, and contact approach or center."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions and experienced spatial disorientation, loss of aircraft control, and in-flight collision with trees and terrain. Factors in the accident were the pilot's failure to follow company procedures, total lack of instrument flight time, and a dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1908 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Okeechobee |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34972 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 270850N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801950W |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 61 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 749 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 15629 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 16 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2035 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 12:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO-15 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911WJ |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA055 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MBB |
| Aircraft Model | BK117A3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7050 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 15 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 5533 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Merrill Lynch Business Financial SE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 222 N. Laselle Street, 16th FL |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chicago |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60601 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | C J Systems Aviation Group |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 57 Allegheny County Airport |
| Operator City | West Mifflin |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 15122 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | Sebring |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1850 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SUA |
| Destination City | Stuart |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 12:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |