Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pilar, New Mexico 87571
Saturday, January 29, 2005 19:56 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter pilot was conducting a positioning flight in night visual meteorological conditions, wearing night vision goggles. He was following the road separating the place of departure and his destination. He could see the vehicle traffic and the surrounding terrain clearly. Approximately 15 minutes into the flight, he felt that something was wrong. The attitude indicator showed that the helicopter was in a 60-70 degree left descending turn. The altimeters and airspeed indicators showed the same trend. The pilot attempted to correct the flight attitude, but became disoriented. The helicopter impacted terrain and rolled onto its right side. A postimpact fire destroyed the helicopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain control of the helicopter, and his improper use of night vision goggles (NVG). Contributing factors were the pilot's spatial disorientation, his self-induced pressure to return the helicopter to its home base, his lack of experience in the use of NVG's, his use of exterior lights on a dark night light, under overcast skies, and against snow-covered terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/29/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1956 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Pilar |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87571 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 361448N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1055054W |
| 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 | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2015 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SKX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7091 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.75 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| 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 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 6984 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20565 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Comm Ctr |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 29 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2308 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 1:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | ABQ FAA Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N351LG |
| NTSB Number | DEN05LA053 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | AS 350 B3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3722 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 899.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Petroleum Helicopters Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2001 SE Evangeline Trwy |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lafayette |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70508 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 90808 |
| Operator City | Lafayette |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70509 |
| Operator Code | HEEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Espanola |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1941 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Taos |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 9 2014 12:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |