Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Dagsboro, Delaware 19939
Thursday, December 14, 2006 18:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While en route to pick up a passenger for a revenue VFR flight, the helicopter pilot encountered fog. She subsequently diverted from her intended destination and landed in a field. By the time her passenger arrived at the helicopter, darkness had fallen, and dense fog had formed. The pilot and passenger then boarded the helicopter. A witness watched as the helicopter climbed vertically to a height just above the trees to its left and the utility lines to its front, and hovered for a few seconds. While hovering, the landing light of the helicopter cycled on and off two times. The helicopter then pitched nose down and accelerated forward. Instead of climbing, the helicopter accelerated forward in a shallow descent until it impacted the ground. The witness described that the conditions of darkness and fog prevented him from making his way to the accident scene without the aid of a light. Several other witnesses described similar conditions around the time of the accident. Forecasted and actual recorded weather conditions in the area around the time of the accident were consistent with the observations of the witnesses. The ceiling and visibility conditions were significantly worse than the minimum values required by the company's operations specifications. Further review of the operations specifications revealed that the pilot was required to report any changes in her itinerary to the operator. No evidence was found to indicate that the pilot had notified the operator of her initial deviation and subsequent landing in the field, or of her intent to depart from that field after sunset. Additionally, during postaccident interviews the operator could not clearly articulate its actual method for determining whether an aircraft was overdue, since no one individual was charged with that specific duty for operations after normal business hours. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper decision to depart under visual flight rules into night instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the fog and the dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Dagsboro |
| Event State | DELAWARE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19939 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 383255N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0751250W |
| 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 | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.13 |
| 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) | 23232 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N407JJ |
| NTSB Number | NYC07FA048 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 407 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53325 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5000 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2421 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Full Service LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1636 Connecticut Ave NW FL 4 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Washington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20009 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HELOAIR INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 203 |
| Operator City | Sandston |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 23150 |
| Operator Code | RW8A |
| 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 Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Dagsboro |
| Departure State | DE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1815 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | IAD |
| Destination City | Dulles |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 5 2008 3:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| 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 | -- |