Hughes 369HS N42054

Summary

On 1 September 1999 at about 10:00 local time, a Hughes 369HS registered N42054 was involved in an accident near Pohnpei. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 September 1999 at 10:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pohnpei

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Hughes 369HS

Registration

N42054

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fishing Vessel → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA292

2 people died.

An in-flight collision with the water for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The helicopter took off from the fishing vessel to conduct tuna spotting operations, and crashed under unknown circumstances approximately 1 1/2 hours later. The pilot had made routine communication with the ship captain via radio about 10 minutes before the accident. No emergency calls were received by the ship. The helicopter was about 30 miles away from the ship at the time of the accident. The ship's crewmembers located only the helicopter's floats, pieces of the airframe, and the engine. The ship captain reported that the sea was flat and clear. There were no birds or fish noted around the accident site. The pilot had been on the ship since August 25, 1999, and had flown about 4 hours. The captain and crew reported that the pilot, who also performed duties as the mechanic, had not mentioned any mechanical problems with the aircraft. The operator estimated that the helicopter had approximately 64 gallons of fuel on board when it departed. No debris or contamination was noted in the fuel samples. The engine did not reveal any preimpact damage and appeared to have been rotating at the time of impact.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.