Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gulf Of Mexico, -- 00000
Thursday, August 18, 2005 14:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 1,936-hr commercial pilot departed at 0705 with three passengers for an oil platform, in the Gulf of Mexico. Prior to departure, the helicopter was serviced with 50 gallons of fuel (approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes flying time with no reserve). The pilot reported, "landing" on the first platform at 0829. After landing, oil was observed on the side of the fuselage and the pilot could not see any indication of the transmission oil level. A mechanic determined that the transmission had been over-serviced and residual oil had caused the oil streaking on the side of the helicopter. The accident pilot informed the mechanic that he didn't have fuel for a 30+ minute ground run. The mechanic informed the accident pilot that they could do about a 5-minute run and then do about a 5-minute hover after the engine cowlings were in place. The pilot who brought out the mechanic, offered to get fuel for them; however, the accident pilot declined the offer, stating that he, "could do this without any problems". The second helicopter departed at 1313, leaving the accident pilot and mechanic to complete their engine run and flight over to a second oil platform for refueling. The accident pilot reported his departure at 1359 and then reported "landing" at 1410. As the helicopter approached the oil platform from the south and made "some strange turns left and right". Then it straightened up and headed to the heliport. Just before the helicopter got to the heliport, it "sounded like it lost power and started dropping rapidly." The helicopter descended below the platform's living quarters and witnesses heard the helicopter contact the oil platform and fall into the water below. The emergency floats did not deploy. A visual inspection of the powerplant was accomplished; no obvious abnormalities were noted. The fuel tank and bladder had been breached by the impact. Various fuel lines were checked, a small amount of ( approx. 1 teaspoon) water/fuel was found in the fuel line between the firewall check-valve and fuel nozzle. The fuel line between the fuel control and firewall check-valve was absent any fluid. The canister housing the fuel filter was removed and opened, the fluid quickly separated into about a 90/10 water and fuel mixture; a laboratory analysis later identified the fluid as saltwater and fuel. The fuel line between the fuel filter and airframe bulkhead contained about 3 tablespoons of fluid (mostly water). The engine was dissembled and inspected; both the compressor and turbine sections exhibited no abnormalities. The engine's accessories consisting of the fuel control, power turbine governor, fuel pump, and fuel nozzle were all "bench tested" at the operators maintenance facility. No discrepancies were found with the engine accessories, the engine's accessory gearbox, or the main rotor transmission. Drive and flight control continuity was established to both the main and tail rotor systems. An inspection of the cockpit cabin, found the pilots seat and shoulder belts fastened and the passenger's seat and shoulder belts unfastened. Additionally, the landing gear emergency float system was found in the unarmed position. The caution panel was removed and examined. Two bulbs contained filaments that were stretched and broken; the fuel pump and engine-out anunciators. The low-rotor anunciator light bulb contained filaments that were stretched, but not broken.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's improper fuel calculations.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1410 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gulf of Mexico |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 281612N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0931006W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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 | Not Reported |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19500 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA BAT FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 18 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2006 11:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Baton Rouge FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N167H |
| NTSB Number | DFW05FA217 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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 | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2968 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 13992 |
| 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 Dr |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Gulf of Mexico |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Gulf of Mexico |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 7 2006 9:12AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |