Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vermillion Bay, Louisiana 70502
Thursday, June 24, 2004 13:50 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 6,562-hour commercial rated helicopter pilot encountered adverse weather while on a 114-nautical mile over water cross-country flight. The pilot contacted his company's flight following with a normal position report and reported inbound on a Gulf of Mexico operation. Approximately eight minutes later, the accident pilot contacted his company's flight following and changed his destination to another heliport, but did not give a reason for the change of destination. He also reported his estimated time of arrival and that he was 45 miles out. At the helicopters approximate time of arrival, another helicopter pilot monitoring a common VHF radio frequency, overheard a mayday distress call. He then replied by asking for the accident pilot's location, but received no response. A moment later, another mayday distress call was heard followed by, "going in the water." There were no further communications or reported distress calls, and no reported eyewitnesses. A Convective SIGMET advisory was valid at the time of the accident. The SIGMET warned of embedded thunderstorms moving from 220 degrees at 25 knots, with tops above 45,000 feet. This advisory encompassed the area of the accident site. There was no report of the pilot obtaining any formal preflight weather briefing (from a company, flight service station, DUATS or WSI weather program) prior to departure or en route.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather conditions resulting in a loss of control. Contributing factors were the prevailing thunderstorms and the pilot's inadequate in flight preparation and planning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/24/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1350 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Vermillion Bay |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70502 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 294520N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0920447W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ARA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 25 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 31 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20064 |
| NTSB Notification Source | BTR FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 24 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5006F |
| NTSB Number | FTW04FA168 |
| 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 | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206-L1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45181 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Jun 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 59 |
| Airframe Hours | 23489.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | American Helicopters, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | -- |
| Operator Street Address | 7903 County Road 220 |
| Operator City | Angleton |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77515 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | EI-349 |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1258 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 0R3 |
| Destination City | Abbeville |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 15 2006 11:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |