Bell 206B III N2113Z

Summary

On 30 September 1996 at about 16:15 local time, a Bell 206B III registered N2113Z was involved in an accident near Flamingo, Florida, United States. 2 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

30 September 1996 at 16:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Flamingo, Florida, United States

Coordinates

25.2706, -80.6291

Aircraft

Bell 206B III

Registration

N2113Z

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lantana → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA96TA236

Nobody was injured.

the wire strike protection guide became entangled in a mangrove branch which resulted in helicopter control not being maintained.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

This flight was on a mission of taking water samples in the everglades. The pilots stated that while taking off from a level site, covered with about 4-6 inches of water, and moderately covered with mangrove vegetation, the wire strike protection guide 'made contact with a mangrove plant branch...causing the nose to pitch down while the helicopter was trying to transition to forward flight.' The helicopter rolled to the right causing the rotor blade to strike the ground. The National Park Service (NPS) was providing flight following for the flight, and the pilot was to report every 15 minutes. The flight had 7 minutes remaining before the next report was to be made, when the accident occurred. What was not known to the pilot was, the flight following dispatcher had closed after the last report, and the pilot was not notified of the situation. The helicopter's emergency transmitter locator (ELT) did not operate after the crash, and no one was aware of the accident until a ground crew member became concerned when he had not heard from the flight for about 5 hours. The ground crew member checked with NPS personnel, and expressed his concern. The occupants stayed with the wreckage until about 1845, when they were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Examination and a functional test on the ELT revealed that the 'ON-OFF-ARM' switch was not working. Disassembly of the ELT did not expose the interior of the switch, and there was no determination made on why the switch malfunctioned.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.