- Date
- January 11, 1992, 13:26 local (21:26 UTC)
- Place
- Crockett, CA
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N95ATBell 206BIII
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 13, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920111000349A
- Case key
- 27399
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 failure to maintain vigilant watch for obstructions while intentionally cruising slowly at a low altitude. A factor was the power line was supported by distant towers, and the line was not conspicuous.
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 had been hired to provide an airlift for 4 passengers to assist them in surveying the strait for an oil spill. The pilot was familiar with the area which was located near his home base arpt. On a clear day, while in slow cruise flt about 210 feet AGL, the plt collided nearly perpendicular with a power line. The line was depicted on the aeronautical chart. The helicopter entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed into the underlying strait. An FAA inspector who flew the same route as the accident plt reported that the power line was difficult to observe unitl he was within 1000 ft of it. The inspector indicated that the lack of conspicuity may be related to the fact that the towers from which the line had been suspended across the strait were located 4426 feet apart.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N95AT
- Reported as
- Bell 206BIII
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3295
- Airframe hours
- 4,178
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 317 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Operator
- Rotor Connection, doing business as Air There Helicopters
- Registered owner
- Rts Helicopter Services Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 27, 1991 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Martinez, 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
- 46
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,712 total · 1,350 in this make and model · 2,600 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.