- Date
- January 25, 1986, 09:04 local (15:04 UTC)
- Place
- Sabine Pass, TX
- Injuries
- 2 serious, 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5748YBell 206L-1
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860125001359A
- Case key
- 22127
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
Acft encountered deteriorating weather enroute from shore to an oil rig that was under tow in the gulf of Mexico. Upon encountering IMC conditions, the plt climbed to 600' AGL for better obstacle clearance and turned back toward the beach. During a subsequent attempt to reacquire VMC conditions the plt entered a descending right turn. The plt stated that during the turn a rapid descent rate developed and that he was able to arrest it using full collective, just prior to impact with the tidal mud flats. The acft experienced a hard landing with no damage but was subsequently destroyed during the recovery effort.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5748Y
- Reported as
- Bell 206L-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 45495
- Airframe hours
- 3,435
- Engine
- Allison 250-C28, 435 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Omni Flight Offshore
- Registered owner
- Omniflight Offshore Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- 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
- 33
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,473 total · 17 in this make and model · 3,222 as pilot in command · 77 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 5 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 200 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- RPE, 4 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.