ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 43920
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| Date: | Thursday 14 December 2006 |
| Time: | 18:15 |
| Type: |  Bell 407 |
| Owner/operator: | Heloair Inc |
| Registration: | N407JJ |
| MSN: | 53325 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1998 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2421 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Dagsboro, DE -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Dagsboro, DE |
| Dulles, VA (IAD) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
While en route to pick up a passenger for a revenue VFR flight, the helicopter pilot encountered fog. She subsequently diverted from her intended destination and landed in a field. By the time her passenger arrived at the helicopter, darkness had fallen, and dense fog had formed. The pilot and passenger then boarded the helicopter. A witness watched as the helicopter climbed vertically to a height just above the trees to its left and the utility lines to its front, and hovered for a few seconds. While hovering, the landing light of the helicopter cycled on and off two times. The helicopter then pitched nose down and accelerated forward. Instead of climbing, the helicopter accelerated forward in a shallow descent until it impacted the ground. The witness described that the conditions of darkness and fog prevented him from making his way to the accident scene without the aid of a light. Several other witnesses described similar conditions around the time of the accident. Forecasted and actual recorded weather conditions in the area around the time of the accident were consistent with the observations of the witnesses. The ceiling and visibility conditions were significantly worse than the minimum values required by the company's operations specifications. Further review of the operations specifications revealed that the pilot was required to report any changes in her itinerary to the operator. No evidence was found to indicate that the pilot had notified the operator of her initial deviation and subsequent landing in the field, or of her intent to depart from that field after sunset. Additionally, during postaccident interviews the operator could not clearly articulate its actual method for determining whether an aircraft was overdue, since no one individual was charged with that specific duty for operations after normal business hours. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions.
Probable Cause: The pilot's improper decision to depart under visual flight rules into night instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the fog and the dark night conditions.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20061222X01838&key=1
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 02-Mar-2013 14:36 | TB | Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Damage] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 05-Dec-2017 09:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
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