Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Cameron, La (Private Helipad) Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cameron, Louisiana 70631
Saturday, July 17, 2004 9:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 18,056-hour pilot made a mayday distress call on the common traffic advisory frequency stating that "he was going down." No further radio transmissions were received from the pilot. The helicopter impacted the water about 8 miles short of it intended destination. The positioning flight was scheduled from an offshore oil platform to the company's on-shore operations base. Signatures of the recovered wreckage were consistent with an uncontrolled impact with the water. There were no reported eyewitnesses to the accident, and no significant weather was reported in the area at the time of the accident. No mechanical anomalies were found with the airframe or the engine during the course of the investigation. The engine teardown examination at the engine manufacturer's factory did not reveal any anomalies that could have prevented normal operations. Several helicopter components and parts were further examined at the helicopter manufacturer's laboratory. No anomalies or pre-existing faults were found with any of the examined parts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The helicopter's in-flight collision with water for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/17/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cameron |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70631 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 293801N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0931828W |
| Event Location Airport | Cameron, LA (private helipad) |
| 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 | 9 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 175 |
| Airport Elevation | 4 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1012 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 355 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | K7R5 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| 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) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1765 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17955 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 17 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1200 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1078C |
| NTSB Number | FTW04FA186 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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 L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45392 |
| 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 | Jul 14 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 22658.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Rotorcraft Leasing Company |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 430 N Eola |
| Aircraft Owner City | Broussard |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70518 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | YTRA |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | WC 645 |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 838 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Cameron |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 1:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |