- Date
- December 26, 2019, 16:57 local (Dec 27, 2019, 02:57 UTC)
- Place
- Kekaha, HI
- Injuries
- 7 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N985SAAirbus AS350B2
- Defining event
- Enroute-cruise: VFR encounter with IMC
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 10, 2022
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting · Board meeting May 10, 2022
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20191226014219A
- Case key
- 100736
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which resulted in the collision into terrain. Contributing to the accident was Safari Aviation Inc.’s lack of safety management processes to identify hazards and mitigate the risks associated with factors that influence pilots to continue VFR flight into IMC. Also contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s delayed implementation of a Hawaii aviation weather camera program, its lack of leadership in the development of a cue-based weather training program for Hawaii air tour pilots, and its ineffective monitoring and oversight of Hawaii air tour operators’ weather-related operating practices.
Findings · 6
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Factual narrative
On December 26, 2019, about 1657 Hawaii standard time, an Airbus AS350 B2 helicopter, N985SA, was destroyed when it collided into terrain in a remote, wooded area about 11 miles north of Kekaha, Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. The pilot and the six passengers were fatally injured. Safari Aviation Inc. (Safari), doing business as Safari Helicopters, operated the flight as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 on-demand air tour under visual flight rules (VFR).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N985SA
- Reported as
- Airbus AS350B2
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3111
- Built
- 1998
- Airframe hours
- 21,854.1
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- Unknown
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Safari Aviation Inc.
- Registered owner
- Saf Ltd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Lihue, HI
- Destination
- Lihue, HI
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Equipment
- None
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 69
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 16, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 15,718 total · 5,814.2 in this make and model · 15,714 as pilot in command · 126.4 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 5.8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.89 inHg
Docket · 46
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 15, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.3 GB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N985SA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.