- Date
- January 21, 2003, 16:50 local (22:50 UTC)
- Place
- Oak Grove, LA
- Injuries
- 5 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5740LBell 206L-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030121003379A
- Case key
- 56371
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 continued flight into adverse weather conditions, and his improper landing flare resulting in a hard landing. A contributing factors was the fog.
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 encountered advection fog while flying to the beach from offshore. He made a right descending turn, and at 200 feet ran into fog and lost sight of the ground. The helicopter landed hard, separating the tailboom.
Factual narrative
On January 21, 2003, at 1650 central standard time, a Bell 206L-1 helicopter, N5740L, was substantially damaged when it landed hard during a precautionary landing following an encounter with adverse weather near Oak Grove, Louisiana. The helicopter was owned and operated by Air Logistics LLC of New Iberia, Louisiana. The commercial pilot and four passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on-demand air taxi flight. The flight originated at East Cameron 89, Gulf of Mexico, at 1630, and was en route to the Creole Heliport (15LA) located 7 miles east of Oak Grove.
The pilot reported that after encountering advection fog and restricted visibility, he continued towards the beach to land. He began to descend and decelerate through the fog as he was looking for a place to land. He realized he had developed forward movement, leveled the rotor blades, and settled to arrest the descent.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector, who responded to the accident site, the pilot made a right descending turn to the landing area and entered fog at approximately 250 feet. He leveled out the helicopter and made a 100 to 200 feet per minute descent. Subsequently, he lost visual cues for directional stabilized hover and made a hard landing.
Examination of the aircraft by the FAA Inspector revealed that the aft cross tube was bent, and the tailboom was separated.
The weather at the time of the accident, reported winds from 180 degrees at 9 knots, 1/4 mile visibility, obscured clouds with fog, and an altimeter setting of 29.98 inches of Mercury. The temperature and dew point were both 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5740L
- Reported as
- Bell 206L-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 45459
- Airframe hours
- 21,446
- Engine
- Allison 250C30P, 640 lbs thrust, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Air Logistics LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · December 23, 2002 · 114.3 hours before
- Departed
- East Cameron 89, GM
- Destination
- 15LA · Oak Grove, LA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 43
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 6,569 as pilot in command · 221 in the last 90 days · 81 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 0.25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,600 ft broken
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.97 inHg
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 30, 2004, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 254 KB 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.