Bell 206B N7734A
2 April 1998 · Round Top, Texas, United States · Fatal
Summary
On 2 April 1998 at about 14:17 local time, a Bell 206B registered N7734A was involved in an accident near Round Top, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 14:17
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Round Top, Texas, United States
- Coordinates
- 30.0607, -96.6906
- Aircraft
- Bell 206B
- Registration
- N7734A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Austin → Houston
- Aircraft damage
- Destroyed
- Weather
- IMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- FTW98FA167
People
1 person died.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Probable cause
The pilot's attempted VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing factors were fog, low ceilings, and trees.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The non-instrument rated private helicopter pilot encountered fog and low ceilings while en route on a 132 mile VFR cross country flight. Witnesses near the accident site reported observing the helicopter in a nose down attitude and hearing the sound of impact with trees. Visibility in the vicinity of the accident site was reported by several witnesses to be as low as 100 feet and as high as 1/4 of a mile. The ceiling was obscured due to fog. Residents in the area reported that fog has a tendency to form that time of the year around sunrise. Physical evidence and signatures at the accident site indicate that the helicopter impacted the trees and terrain in a 45 degree nose low attitude in a slight right turn. The accident occurred at 0807 local time and sunrise occurred at 0619. The pilot had accumulated a total of 187 flight hours. No evidence of pre-impact mechanical failure or malfunction was observed at the accident site. No anomalies were found during the investigation that could have prevented normal flight operation.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Bell 206 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jul 1998 | Bell 206L-3 | Reklaw, Texas, United States | U.s. Forest Service | Minor injuries | - |
| 21 Aug 1998 | Bell 206B | Salinas, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 3 Oct 1998 | Bell 206B | Vernal, Utah, United States | Enterprise Aviation, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 25 May 1998 | Bell 206L-3 | Indian Trail, North Carolina, United States | - | Fatal | 5 |
| 15 Aug 1998 | Bell 206B II | Chickaloon, Alaska, United States | Alaska State Troopers | No injuries | - |
| 12 Sep 1998 | Bell 206B-3 | Hinkley, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
All 1,732 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Jan 1998 | Beechcraft V35 | Seguin, Texas, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 14 Jan 1998 | Poling KELEHER LARK KR1B | Georgetown, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 24 Jan 1998 | Cessna 140A | Justin, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 29 Aug 1998 | Jodel F11-3 | Beeville, Texas, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 29 Aug 1998 | Piper PA-28-235 | Mineola, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 30 Jan 1998 | Cessna 500 | Horseshoe Bay, Texas, United States | - | No injuries | - |