Bell 206L N164BH

Summary

On 6 March 1995 at about 21:00 local time, a Bell 206L registered N164BH was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

6 March 1995 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Coordinates

25.6800, -80.1608

Aircraft

Bell 206L

Registration

N164BH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA95LA084

Nobody was injured.

THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ENGINE POWER WHILE MANEUVERING, HIS FAILURE TO TAKE REMEDIAL ACTION TO RECOVER FROM THE RESULTING DESCENT, AND HIS DECISION TO MAKE A PRECAUTIONARY LANDING ON THE WATER.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that while maneuvering at 250-300 feet, video taping a boat, he heard three dull thumps and the helicopter began to settle and the engine appeared to lose power. He lowered collective and nosed over. The engine power seemed low and he elected to land on the water. Postcrash examination of the aircraft structure, aircraft systems, flight controls, engine assembly, and all engine controls revealed no evidence to indicate precrash failure or malfunction. Uncontaminated Jet-A fuel was found in the airframe and engine fuel systems. About 2 minutes of audio information from the video camera that was being used by the passenger-photographer on the helicopter was subjected to frequency analysis. This analysis showed the engine N-1 speed was steady at 92% until 6.99 seconds before water impact when it decreased steadily to flight idle. Rotor speed remained steady at 99.8% until the N-1 speed began to decrease to idle. Rotor speed then dropped to 92.3% and the low rotor warning horn activated at 96.3% rotor speed. No thumps as reported by the pilot could be heard.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.