Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Scholes International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gulf Of Mexico, Texas
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 17:06 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While landing on the “winch only” deck of a ship at anchor in the Gulf of Mexico, the helicopter’s tail rotor struck a valve assembly protruding from the ship’s deck. The helicopter yawed approximately 60 degrees nose-right, then struck the ship’s side rail with the helicopter’s tail and came to rest upright on the deck. There was substantial damage to the helicopter’s fuselage, tail boom, horizontal stabilizer, tail rotor blades, tail rotor hub, and tail rotor gearbox. The pilot and four passengers were not injured and exited the helicopter normally through the doors on the right side of the helicopter. There were no injuries to any of the persons on board the ship.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from obstructions while landing on a shipboard helipad.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/8/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1706 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gulf of Mexico |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 283232N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0934625W |
| Event Location Airport | Scholes International Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GLS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 71 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 6 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1652 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 307 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GLS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 47 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 71 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | Pilot reported surface winds at the accident site |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26972 |
| NTSB Notification Source | SW Regional Comm Center, FTW |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 26 2010 11:59AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N309CH |
| NTSB Number | CEN09LA252 |
| 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 | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 222B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 47141 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8250 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 5 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 4 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 8905 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CENTRAL HELICOPTER SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8913 Paul B Koonce Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77061-5111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CENTRAL HELICOPTER SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8913 Paul B Koonce Street |
| Operator City | Houston |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77061-5111 |
| Operator Code | C9PA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | C9PA804W |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HOU |
| Departure City | Houston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Gulf of Mexico |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 9 2011 12:22PM |
| 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 | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |