MIA05FA055

A witness, the pilot's wife, who was watching the takeoff stated that the helicopter had been parked overnight and immediately prior to departure her husband used the garden hose and washed the windscreen with water. He then embarked the helicopter, started the engine, lifted into a hover, taxied, and initiated a normal takeoff. She said she watched the takeoff, and at an altitude of about 75 to 100 feet the helicopter assumed a slight nose low descending attitude and suddenly impacted the ground. She said that the helicopter descended impacting hard on its skids, but mainly on the right skid, and it fell over on the right side, momentarily rolled inverted, and then rolled back on the right side. She said that the helicopter had been operating normally, and she did not hear any unusual noises, or observe any erratic movement associated with the helicopter, and that all she saw initially prior to the impact was a gradual nose low right side low, but faster than normal descent. She said it was not the usual gentle movements she had become used to observing her husband perform countless times before when landing or taking off in the helicopter. A second witness, said that he was standing at the edge of the driveway when the helicopter was about 100 feet in the air, and he heard a loud "pop" noise, saw a momentary blaze of fire, and then the helicopter nosed over, and descended impacting the ground upside down. Postcrash examination of the helicopter and its systems did not reveal any preaccident anomalies.

History of flight

On February 5, 2005, about 0550 central standard time, a Bell 206B JetRanger helicopter, N35BA, registered to, and operated by Lance Aviation, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight, crashed in the town of Bonifay, in Holmes County, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The commercial-rated pilot received fatal injuries, and the helicopter incurred substantial damage. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.

A witness, the pilot's wife, stated that the helicopter had been parked overnight at her parent's residence, and on the morning of the accident it was being repositioned to its home base at Lance Aviation, in Lakeland, Florida. She said that she awakened with her husband and prepared breakfast while he preflighted the helicopter. After breakfast she then watched as her husband prepared to depart. Prior to departure she said her husband used the garden hose and washed the windscreen with water. He then embarked the helicopter, started the engine, and "warmed up the helicopter." She said he then lifted the helicopter into a hover, and hover taxied from the back of the house, where it had been parked, and initiated a normal takeoff in the open field to the side of the house, as he had done in the past.

She said she watched the takeoff, and at an altitude of about 75 to 100 feet, the helicopter assumed a slight nose low descending attitude. She said this was something her husband did not normally do when he departs, and it made her think that he was going to land the helicopter. She said the helicopter continued to descend with no other abnormal movements, and it then suddenly fell to the ground. She said it landed upright on its landing gear and then rolled right. When asked, she added that the helicopter had been operating normally, and she did not hear any unusual noises, or observe any erratic movement associated with the helicopter, and that all she saw initially prior to the impact was a gradual nose low right side low, but faster than normal descent. She said it was not the usual gentle movements she had observed her husband perform countless times before when landing or taking off in the helicopter.

A second witness, the pilot's father in law, stated that he was asleep, and he awakened when he heard the helicopter engine. He then quickly got dressed so he could observe the helicopter depart. He said that the helicopter was departing as the sun was coming up. He said that there was sufficient light such as to permit him to see the pilot's face. He said he was standing at the edge of the driveway when the helicopter was about 100 feet in the air, and he heard a loud "pop" noise, saw a momentary blaze of fire, and then the helicopter nosed over, and descended impacting the ground upside down.

Personnel information

Information obtained from the FAA showed that the pilot held a FAA commercial pilot certificate with rotorcraft and instrument ratings, issued on December 28, 2000. He also held an FAA second-class medical certificate issued on March 25, 2004, with the stated limitations that he wear corrective lenses for near and distant vision.

According to the pilot's logbook, labeled "Logbook Number 4", whose entries began on May 6, 2004, and the pilot reported having accumulated about 4,827 total flight hours in helicopters. The records also showed that on January 13, 2005, he completed a flight review in a Bell 206 helicopter.

Aircraft information

N35BA is a Bell 206B JetRanger helicopter, serial number 487, manufactured in 1969. Originally the helicopter had been an "A" model, but had undergone modifications to convert it to a "B" model. At the time of the accident, the helicopter had accumulated about 15,696.1 total flight hours on the airframe.

The helicopter was also equipped with a 420 horsepower, Allison Model 250-C20B turbo-shaft engine, whose serial number was CAE 830164.

Maintenance records showed that the helicopter was last received an annual inspection on August 4, 2004, its last 300-hour inspection on December 1, 2004, and its last 100-hour inspection on January 2, 2005. At the time of the accident, the helicopter had reportedly accumulated 81.6 flight hours since its last inspection, and about 1,734.6 flight hours since major overhaul. The helicopter's records also indicated that its static system, altimeter, and transponder had last been last tested on December 1, 2004.

Meteorological information

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The Panama City-Bay County International Airport, Panama City, Florida, surface weather observation was wind calm, visibility 6 statute miles, sky condition clear, temperature 5 degrees Celsius, dew point temperature 3 degrees Celsius, altimeter setting 30.28 inHg.

About the time of the accident, astronomical data showed that for the location of the accident, civil twilight was predicted to commence at 0606, and sunrise at 0631.

Wreckage and impact information

N35BA crashed in an open field in front of, and on the east side of a residence located at 2415 Bonifay Gritney Road, Bonifay, Florida, a rural area of Holmes County, about 9 miles south of the city of Bonifay, Florida. The helicopter was located in geographic position 30 degrees, 49.516 minutes North latitude, 085 degrees, 48.009 minutes West longitude, and came to rest in an area of the field which had about a 5 to 7 degree left to right down sloping gradient. The main rotor, transmission, and tailboom had separated from the fuselage, and the fuselage underside had fractured near the aft cross tube. There was ground scarring consistent with the helicopter having impacted hard on its right skid first, and also scarring indicative of there being little or no forward movement at the time of impact.

The cockpit was configured with the controls installed on the right side, and all controls to include the cyclic, collective, pedals and throttle linkage moved freely when manipulated. Control components were examined and all fractures were consistent with overload. The vertical control tubes had fractured at the upper ends, and were connected at the lower ends. The cockpit had maintained its integrity, and there was minimal damage to the instruments. The fuel cutoff switch was in the "on" position, and all exterior light switches were in the off position. The anti-collision and position lights were in the "off" position. The start/heater, generator and battery and blower defog switches were in the "on" position. The altimeter displayed about 850 feet , and had a barometric pressure setting of 30.03 inHg. The airspeed indicator read about 10 knots.

On the right side of the wreckage, about a 3-foot long and 11-inch deep gouge was noted, consistent with the "white" blade, which had the most damage, having first struck the ground. The white blade's outboard tip had separated and was found about 75 feet in front of the main wreckage. In addition, the "red" blade had also fractured at the outboard edge of the doublers, however, both rotor blades except for the separated sections, were connected to the mast and transmission. The transmission had separated from the fuselage at its base, and was lying under the tailboom. The damage was consistent with the main rotor being driven when it struck the ground. The pitch change links had also fractured consistent with overload.

The helicopter's roof and beam assembly were displaced, and the beam assembly had torn through the roof. Control tubes had fractured, and , and the pylon support links had been displaced. The collective sleeve, swashplate, and support were still present on the mast above the transmission and they exhibited heavy impact damage. The mast did not display any notable damage, and both cyclic servos and the collective hydraulic actuators had remained attached to the cylinder support assembly. The control tubes attach