Bell 206B N16659

Summary

On 19 November 1982 at about 20:00 local time, a Bell 206B registered N16659, operated by Houston Helicopters Inc., was involved in an accident near Port O'connor, Texas, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

19 November 1982 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Port O'connor, Texas, United States

Coordinates

28.4399, -96.4907

Aircraft

Bell 206B

Registration

N16659

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Houston Helicopters Inc.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Matagorda → Amarillo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW83LA040

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT WHEN HE TOOK OFF AT 1348 CST, THE WEATHER WAS 400 FT OVERCAST, 2 TO 5 MI VISIBILITY WITH RAIN. ABOUT 10 MIN LATER, HE ARRIVED AT THE PORT O'CONNOR JETTY AND COULD SEE ACROSS MATAGORDA BAY TO PORT O'CONNOR. ABOUT HALFWAY ACROSS THE BAY, SEVERE TURBULENCE AND RAIN (ASSOCIATED WITH A THUNDERSTORM) WERE ENCOUNTERED. THE PILOT MADE A 180 DEG TURN AND ATTEMPTED TO PROCEED TO A BEACH TO LAND. AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL, WHILE ON A LANDING APPROACH, A SEVERE DOWNDRAFT WAS ENCOUNTERED. FULL POWER WAS APPLIED, BUT THE DESCENT CONTINUED AND THE HELICOPTER IMPACTED IN THE WATER IN A NEAR LEVEL ATTITUDE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.