19990528006139A

Crashed offshore in 100 feet of water due to unknown circumstances. There was only debris found and no bodies have been recovered. (-23) on may 28, 1999, at about 6:48 am PDT, a messerschmitt-bolkow-blohm bo 105 helicopter, N811CE, crashed into the pacific ocean approx. 3.2 miles off the coast of Huntington beach, CA. The aircraft, operated by southern California edison, was destroyed. The pilot and two passengers suffered fatal injuries. Tear down of the recovered aircraft showed no signs of mechanical failure. All aircraft systems appeared to be operating normal at the time of the crash. The #1 engine shut off valve was in the full open position. The #2 engine fuel shut-off valve appeared to be partially closed, however #2 engine drive shaft indicates that the engine was running at the time of impact. The #2 valve may have been actuated to the closed position when the switch was possibly hit during the crash or the results of a system electrical short. The #2 shutoff valve has been sent to be analyzed for time required to travel from full open to closed as this may determine what position the shutoff valve was in at the time of the crash. (-4) on may 28, 1999, about 0648 hours pacific daylight time, a messerschmitt-bolkow-blohm bo 105LS A-3 helicopter, N811CE, crashed into the pacific ocean approximately 3.2 miles southwest of the Huntington beach pier, Huntington beach, California. The aircraft, operated by southern California edison, ontario, California, was destroyed. The commercial pilot and two passengers were not found and are presumed to have suffered fatal injuries. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 CFR part 91 as a corporate flight to transport two edison employees to catalina island. The flight originated at an edison service center helipad near irvine, California, about 0625 as a non-stop flight to the pebbly beach helipad on catalina island, which is about 25 miles offshore. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at john wayne airport, near irvine, at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed with the federal aviation administration (FAA); however, company flight following was being provided to the pilot. According to the FAA, no ATC services or weather briefings were provided to the pilot on the morning of the accdient. In both an oral interview and a written statement, the chief pilot for the company stated that prior to departure the pilot telephoned the company stations at rosemead, san onofre, irvine, and westminster for enroute weather conditions. The company employee stationed at cataline island who was to pickup the passengers said the pilot did not contact him for the weather conditions. According to weather reports and witness observations from pilot sflying along the same general route, the weather in the channel between the southern California coast and catalina island included cloud bases between 500 and 700 feet, and visibility values rangine from 1 to 3 miles. Isolated area of lower cloud bases and visibility values were observed by the witnesses. According to southern California edison, the pilot departed the ontario airport at 0521, and flew to the company's general offices inrosemead and picked up one of the passengers. The pilot had intended to fly to a company helipad in san onofre to pickup the other passenger; however, the weather along the coast in the san onofre area included fog and limited visibility. The pilot then asked the second passenger to drive to the irvine helipad. The flight then left rosemead and arrived at the irvine helipad at 0610. After picking up the passenger, the flight departed for santa catalina island. At 0640, the pilot talked to another company pilot on the radio and stated he would be "feet wet in 2 minutes." No further communications were recorded from the helicopter. According to the company chief pilot, the pilot had stated the night before that he intended to cross the coast at the Huntington beach pier and proceed direct across the channel to the island. When the helicopter failed to arrive at catalina, the company reported it missing and search efforts were intiated by the us coast guard. Debris identified from the helicopter was found floating about 3.5 miles off the pier at 1203, along with a fuel slick. The coast guard reported the location of the debris field as north latitude 33 degrees 37.2 minutes by west longitude 117 degrees 58.2 minutes.