Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ras Tanajib Saudi Arabia
Saturday, August 22, 2009 5:06 UTC
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On August 22, 2009, at 0506 universal coordinated time, an Agusta 109E helicopter, N906AH, operated by Saudi Aramco Aviation, sustained substantial damage during landing and a post crash fire at barge Arabyia 4, in the Persian Gulf, near Ras Tanajib, Saudi Arabia. The pilot and 4 passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Ras Tanajib Airport (OETN), at 0456.
According to the operator, the helicopter touched down on the barge, the helicopter began to shake, the main rotor contacted the tail boom and cabin, and a fire ensued. During the accident sequence, the pilot was able to secure the engines and stop the main rotor with the rotor brake. The pilot and passengers exited the helicopter uninjured, and barge personnel extinguished the fire.
The accident occurred in the vicinity of 28 degrees, 05 minutes north latitude, 048 degrees, 44 minutes east longitude.
This investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Any further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from:
General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA)
P.O. Box 887, Jeddah, 21165
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Tel: 966-2685-5515
Fax: 966-2-685-5507
This report is for informational purposes and contains only information released by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 506 |
| Event Time Zone | Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Event City | Ras Tanajib |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | SAUDI ARABIA |
| Zipcode of the event site | 31311 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 280500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0484400E |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 800 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| 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?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.56 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia GACA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2009 3:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N906AH |
| NTSB Number | ERA09WA478 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 129: Foreign |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AGUSTA SPA |
| Aircraft Model | A109E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 11644 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6600 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 15 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 76 |
| Airframe Hours | 2439 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARAMCO ASSOCIATED CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16875 JOHN F KENNEDY BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOUSTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77032-6017 |
| 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 | 16875 JOHN F KENNEDY BLVD |
| Operator City | HOUSTON |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 77032-6017 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | OETN |
| Departure City | Ras Tanajib |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | SA |
| Departure Time | 456 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Ras Tanajib |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | SA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 8 2009 3:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |