ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 36024
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| Date: | Friday 5 June 1998 |
| Time: | 05:49 |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350BA Astar |
| Owner/operator: | Metro Aviation opb Tex-Air Helicopters |
| Registration: | N911VA |
| MSN: | 1446 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1981 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 4753 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near La Gloria, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Valley International Heliport, TX (78TS) |
| Humble Kelsey, TX | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On June 5, 1998, at 0549 central daylight time, a Eurocopter AS350BA medical ambulance helicopter, N911VA, was destroyed upon impact with trees and terrain near La Gloria, Texas. The instrument rated commercial pilot and two medical technicians on board the helicopter were fatally injured. The helicopter was owned by Metro Aviation of Shreveport, Louisiana, and operated by Tex-Air Helicopters of Houston, Texas. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight for which a company VFR flight plan was filed. The flight departed from a heliport near Harlingen, Texas, at 0514, with a location known as Humble Kelsey, located approximately 8 nautical miles to the northeast of La Gloria along Highway 755, as its intended destination.
The 2,905-hour instrument rated commercial helicopter pilot encountered an area of limited visibility during a dark night flight over an unlit, very sparsely populated, rural area while en route to evacuate a truck driver injured in a highway accident. The helicopter crashed 19 miles west of the truck accident site, indicating that the pilot failed to recognize his intended destination and flew past it. The helicopter impacted trees and terrain in a left turn in a 85 to 95 degrees nose down attitude. The pilot had accumulated a total of 4 hours of actual and 45 hours of simulated instrument flight time, none of it within the 90 days preceding the accident. The pilot was reported to have been concerned about night flights in the area due to the lack of lights on the ground to maintain visual reference. Another helicopter pilot stated that 'at night the area west of the highway is a big black hole.' No discrepancies were found that could have prevented normal flight operations. The pilot who flew the helicopter prior to the accident flight stated that 'the aircraft flew well and responded normally.' The visibility had been severely restricted by thick smoke from fires in Mexico. No distress calls were received from the helicopter. There were no reported eyewitnesses to the accident.
Probable Cause: The pilot's continued flight into adverse weather conditions resulting in a loss of control due to spatial disorientation. Contributing factors were the dark night illumination, the lack of visual cues, the pilot's lack of total instrument time, and the pressure induced by the medical emergency to complete the medical evacuation.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001211X10290
http://alecbuck.com/crew-memorial/
Images:
Photos: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 05-Jul-2014 01:57 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:22 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 13-Oct-2022 12:31 | Captain Adam | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report, Photo] |
| 13-Oct-2022 12:31 | Captain Adam | Updated [Photo] |
| 13-Oct-2022 12:32 | Captain Adam | Updated [Photo] |
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