Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Latangai Island
Saturday, March 2, 2013 13:20 UTC
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, as he was flying toward a school of fish, he observed a nearby fishing vessel moving in the same general direction. He flew over the vessel then continued toward a fish aggregating device (FAD), which is a floating object designed and strategically placed to attract fish; it was located about 0.7 mile away from the vessel. As the pilot approached the FAD, he circled twice and then descended the helicopter into a low hover over the FAD. The helicopter was positioned into the wind, and the vessel was approaching the helicopter from behind. With the helicopter still in a low hover, the fish spotter reached out of the helicopter to attach a radio buoy to the FAD. Shortly after, the helicopter was struck from behind by the vessel. The helicopter subsequently plunged into the ocean.
The fish master, who was at the controls of the vessel, reported that he observed the helicopter circle twice before it appeared to fly out of the area. He was slowing the vessel when it was about 500 meters (0.3 mile) from the FAD when he observed the helicopter in front of the vessel. The captain of the vessel reported that he was on the vessel’s helicopter deck when he noticed the helicopter circle twice and then descend to a hover. He stated that he was unsure what the helicopter was doing until he saw the fish spotter reach for the FAD. At this time, he felt the fish master reverse the vessel; however, it still impacted the helicopter’s tail.
The Federal Aviation Administration Model Civil Aviation Regulations, Version 2.7, Part 11 states, “Each operator shall conduct operations so as not to endanger persons or property on the surface nor aircraft in flight.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard Navigation Rules state, “every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing...as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.” Both the pilot and the fish master of the vessel should have been adequately monitoring their environment and their failure to do so resulted in a collision.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of both the pilot and the fish master of the vessel to adequately monitor their environment, which resulted in a collision.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/2/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1320 |
| Event Time Zone | Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Event City | Latangai Island |
| Event State | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 003040S |
| Event Location Longitude | 1563218E |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | Pilot |
| 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?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33397 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2014 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N471M |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA137 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | HUGHES |
| Aircraft Model | 369HS |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | HS |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1140671S |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 5 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 27 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 9921 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JERRYS HELICOPTER SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PORT VILA |
| Aircraft Owner State | FN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | JERRYS HELICOPTER SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PORT VILA |
| Operator State | FN |
| Operator Country | NH |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Latangai Island |
| Departure State | PO |
| Departure Country | PP |
| Departure Time | 1220 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Latangai Island |
| Destination State | PO |
| Destination Country | PP |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 7 2014 5:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |