- Date
- May 29, 1992, 03:30 local (07:30 UTC)
- Place
- Winnsboro, SC
- Injuries
- 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5806KAerospatiale AS350B
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920529017219A
- Case key
- 8510
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 inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions by the pilot. The dark night and fog were factors in the accident.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot stated that while en route to a road side emergency at night, and under visual flight rules, he encountered ground fog and entered instrument meteorological conditions. He said that he attempted to execute a 180 degree turn in order to fly out of the fog bank however, the aircraft contacted the trees and crashed into the terrain.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5806K
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS350B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1989
- Airframe hours
- 3,335
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B, 440 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Rocky Mountain Helicopters,Inc
- Registered owner
- Rocky Mountain Helicopters,Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · March 26, 1992 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Columbia, SC
- Destination
- NONE · Winnsboro, SC
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,049 total · 361 in this make and model · 43 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 50° at 9 knots
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
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 N5806K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.