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| Date: | Thursday 8 December 1977 |
| Time: | c. 12:00 |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale SA 330J Puma |
| Owner/operator: | Petroleum Helicopters (PHI) |
| Registration: | N47305 |
| MSN: | 1371 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 17 / Occupants: 19 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Gulf of Mexico, 90 mi SW of Morgan City, LA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Offshore |
| Departure airport: | Intracoastal City, A |
| Penzoil A Offshore Installation, Gulf of Mexico | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A Petroleum Helicopters (PHI) Aérospatiale SA 330J Puma impacted a crane during landing on an offshore installation in the Gulf of Mexico, off Louisiana, killing 17 occupants; 2 survived the accident.
During an attempted go-around, collided with 1" cable below a crane while attempting to land on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, hit deck and bounced overboard. The crane operator had failed to park the crane boom in the stowed position. Wind was gusting at 30 knots.
This accident resulted in the formation of the Helicopter Safety Advisory Conference (HSAC).
Accident investigation:
|
Sources:
https://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/brief.aspx?ev_id=43710&key=0
http://www.gendisasters.com/louisiana/4946/lafayette,-la-helicopter-crash-gulf-mexico,-dec-1977
http://www.hsac.org
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Feb-2008 12:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 04-Jun-2009 12:25 | harro | Updated |
| 17-Feb-2010 10:24 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 25-Mar-2011 13:57 | TB | Updated [Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 21-Aug-2014 05:56 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 22-Aug-2014 18:31 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 25-Aug-2014 12:47 | TB | Updated [Location, ] |
| 10-Dec-2016 20:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 10-Dec-2016 20:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 05-Mar-2017 20:07 | TB | Updated [Time, Registration, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Oct-2024 20:13 | ASN | Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Accident report, ] |
| 27-Oct-2024 20:14 | ASN | Updated [Other fatalities, Narrative, ] |
| 08-Dec-2024 08:41 | Aerossurance | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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