ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 45718
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| Date: | Monday 22 October 2001 |
| Time: | 01:03 |
| Type: |  Bell OH-58A Kiowa |
| Owner/operator: | Polk Co Sheriff's Office |
| Registration: | N911DB |
| MSN: | 41855 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1972 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 4848 hours |
| Engine model: | Allison T63-A720 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Bartow, FL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Survey |
| Departure airport: | Bartow Airport, FL (BOW/KBOW) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On October 22, 2001, about 0103 eastern daylight time, a Bell OH-58A helicopter, N911DB (call sign Air 1), owned and operated by the Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 public-use flight, impacted in a swampy area about 1.2 miles northwest of the Bartow Municipal Airport, Bartow, Florida. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed. The helicopter was destroyed. The commercial rated pilot and flight observer received fatal injuries. The flight had originated from the Bartow Airport at 0030.
The helicopter crashed into a swampy area at night in foggy conditions about a mile from the departure airport. The pilot and observer were returning to the airport on an aerial surveillance flight when the pilot was asked to divert to provide assistance for a law enforcement official. Contact with the flight was lost thereafter. Reportedly the pilot always used his night vision goggles when flying at night. Two pairs of the goggles were recovered from the wreckage, but it was not determined if they were being used at the time of the accident. Transcripts of radio communication with the flight indicates the pilot reported fog conditions. A witness reported fog conditions at and adjacent to the airport. The weather observation for the airport was recorded, in part, as a quarter-mile visibility with a 400-foot cloud ceiling. Examination of the helicopter did not disclose evidence of mechanical malfunction.
Probable Cause: The pilot's continued VFR flight into IMC, and his failure to maintain altitude, resulting in an in-flight collision with the ground. Factors in this accident were fog, and dark night.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20011026X02149&key=1
Location
Images:
Arrow 1: Wreckage, Arrow 2: Airport
Photos: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 10-Dec-2017 13:15 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-May-2023 01:16 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Nature, Source, Narrative]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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