- Date
- October 30, 1984, 23:41 local (Oct 31, 1984, 07:41 UTC)
- Place
- Beaumont, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N20DBBell 206B
- Weather
- Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841030073329A
- Case key
- 24431
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
Approximately one min before the accident the pilot contacted the tower at norton air force base for clearance through their traffic area. He reported initially that he was at 300 ft AGL. Seconds later he transmitted that he was at 100 ft over the freeway. The request was approved at or below 2700 ft MSL while in the control zone. The helicopter first contacted wires at 100 ft AGL. It then descended into a second wire at 80 ft and a guy wire at 60 ft. elevation at the sight was 2,400 ft MSL. The site was about 11 miles east of norton air force base in uncontrolled airspace. Wx at norton was sky partly obscured, visibility 1.5 miles in fog. Shortly after takeoff, at the request of the front seat passenger the pilots planned route of flight was changed. The pilot stated that he was aware of wires in the area and had slowed to 60 KTS and turned the landing light on in order to maintain his visual lookout.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N20DB
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 937
- Airframe hours
- 3,580
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Offshore Logistics, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · August 13, 1984 · 77 hours before
- Departed
- Banning, CA
- Destination
- SNA · Santa Ana, CA
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,625 total · 193 in this make and model · 81 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBD, 13 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.