Bell 206B Copter Crash in Florida

September 11, 2007

Bell 206B Copter Crash in Florida

Two Killed in Florida Helicopter Crash

On September 11, 2007, a Bell 206B registered to Biscayne Helicopter Inc. and operated by Southland Helicopters impacted into the ocean near Nokomis, Florida.  The commercial-rated pilot of the Bell 206B received serious injuries and two passengers received fatal injuries. The Bell helicopter was destroyed. The helicopter flight originated from the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, Sarasota, Florida, earlier that day, about 0840.

A witnesses on a boat stated that the helicopter was being used to take photos of the racing boat he was piloting for a boating magazine. The helicopter was flying at about seven to ten feet off the water, about 100 yards in front of and to the left of the boat. They were traveling about 85 mph. The helicopter was flying pretty much straight ahead, but maybe crabbing about 5 degrees so that the right door was a little more visible.

The pilot was flying the helicopter from the right seat. One of the passengers was in the left front seat and the other passenger, the photographer, was taking pictures out the right rear door opening, sort of leaning out the door. The photographer is usually connected to a harness strap attached to the inside of the helicopter. We were traveling directly into a very mild head wind of 5 mph or less.

The seas were calm and nearly flat, especially closer to shore. As he was following the helicopter with the boat, it (the helicopter) seemed to get a little lower in altitude, which I felt, was lower than I had ever seen it. Then it rose back up slightly and immediately started descending until it hit the water. It seemed almost as if it glided in at consistent angle; it appeared that the first contact with the water was the front radius section of the right skid. Immediately, the helicopter tumbled vertically to where the bottom of the aircraft was seen for a split second.

The helicopter then disintegrated violently and immediately with water, parts and debris flying into the path of the boat which was still traveling at a speed of about 85 mph. He instinctively turned the boat to the right and ducked down. The passenger, in the boat with him, also ducked as they passed through the flying debris and wreckage. He recalled the sound of pieces of the helicopter hitting the boat as they passed. At this point they were already turning in a clockwise direction. They continued in the circle 270 degrees back to where the helicopter had crashed. He pulled up just seaward of the debris field, put the boat in neutral and shut of the motors.

The witness called 911 on the cell phone at 10 AM; according to the call log in his cell phone. He reported a helicopter crash in the Gulf of Mexico south or outside of Big Pass. He was actually not aware that they were as close to Venice as they were.

The helicopter’s top section, instrument panels, engine, transmission, dive shaft, tail boom, bottom section, skids, and rotor head with sections of the main rotor blades were recovery from under the water, relative to the point of impact. The damage to the recovered components was consistent with a high speed impact. The helicopter’s four doors were retrieved; they were removed and left at the fix base operations facility from where the helicopter departed from before the accident flight.

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September 8, 2007

Hughes 369D Helicopter Crash Kills One

Helicopter Crash In Yakima River Canyon

On September 08, 2007, about 1505 Pacific daylight time, a Hughes 369D, N31HM, was hovering on a hillside of the Yakima river canyon in Ellensburg, Washington, when the passenger egressed the helicopter and contacted the main rotor disc. Northwest Helicopters, Inc., was operating the helicopter under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, as a sheep relocating mission for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The commercial pilot and one passenger were not injured; the second passenger was killed. The helicopter was not damaged. The local flight originally departed from Puyallup, Washington, about 0630. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed.

During a telephone interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, the pilot stated that prior to the accident he and the second passenger, a WDFW biologist, had flown on numerous missions over the course of more than 20 years. The day of the accident, the flight departed early in the morning for the purpose of relocating bighorn sheep. The doors on the left side of the helicopter were removed, enabling the passengers to egress from that side and walk around the nose to the right side, if the situation necessitated such positioning. The front left-seated pilot was maneuvering the helicopter in the Yakima area, and both the gunner (aft left seat) and mugger (aft right seat) where to capture sheep. Thereafter the pilot would then land to refuel, shutting down the helicopter at each fueling.

Helicopter Crash During Animal Tagging Operations

The pilot further stated that after having captured about 16 sheep, he had refueled and departed to the Yakima river canyon. The crew gunned two sheep in one net, and the pilot maneuvered the helicopter onto the hillside (about a 30-percent grade). He continued toe-ing the helicopter into the hillside with the front skids in contact with terrain and the netted sheep off the right side of the helicopter. The second passenger (gunner) egressed the left side, and the pilot watched the right-seated passenger (mugger) as he too prepared to egress. The pilot then heard a loud noise and shut down the helicopter. The second passenger had walked into the rotating main rotor disc.

In a later conversation, the pilot added that earlier on the day of the accident, the crew had also captured two sheep in one net, where one of the sheep had escaped before the second passenger could tend to the net. The pilot opined that the second passenger may have been feeling added pressure on the accident touchdown from both having a goal of capturing 20 sheep and having 2 sheep in one net. He noted that the position of the mugger can be fatiguing with the physical requirements of climbing steep terrain and managing the wild animals.

More Helicopter Crash Details

Northwest Helicopters provided an electronic copy of the company policy manual titled, “Aerial Capture, Eradication, Tagging of Animals (ACETA) Plan” that is given to their employees.

Contained within the “Gunner Training” section, the manual states in pertinent part that “the gunner must be familiar with helicopter operations.” The manual later details the sequence for conducting a net gun shooting operation. It states that following the netting of animal, the pilot is to safely land “as quickly as possible to drop off the gunner to attend the animal” and “if a mugger is also on board they will also depart at this time.” It continues to say, “the pilot will depart to pick up the other processing crew if necessary or land nearby and shutdown to minimize noise trauma to the animal.”

The manual did not contain information on whether a pre mission brief was to be conducted on how to egress the helicopter, or any information provided about how the gunner was to egress.

The pilot was the company trainer.

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September 5, 2007

No Injuries in Florida Helicopter Incident

On September 5, 2007, a Bell 206B Helicopter registered to and operated by Tiger Aviation Sales LLC, experienced a hard landing at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (KLAL), Lakeland, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 business flight from a construction site located in Oldsmar, Florida, to Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. The helicopter was substantially damaged and the commercial-rated pilot and three passengers were not injured. The flight originated about 1445, from Oldsmar, Florida.

The pilot stated that the last wind report indicated the wind was from 050 degrees at 10-15 knots. While landing to a hover into the wind, the nose of the helicopter started turning to the right. He applied left anti-torque pedal input to the stop but was not successful. He then performed a hovering autorotation and touched down heading 180 degrees, bounced, and came to rest upright heading 270 degrees.

Preliminary examination of the helicopter by an FAA Airworthiness Inspector revealed no damage to the tail rotor blades. The main rotor blades were rotated by hand and tail rotor drive continuity was confirmed to the tail rotor blades. The tail rotor blades were then held stationary and the main rotor blades were then rotated in the normal direction of rotation. A “popping or cracking” sound was noted at the forward fitting of the #5 tail rotor drive shaft; evidence of heat discoloration was noted on the exterior surface of the forward fitting of the #5 tail rotor drive shaft.

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