Bell 206-L1 N27680

Summary

On 7 September 2000 at about 15:00 local time, a Bell 206-L1 registered N27680 was involved in an accident near Eugene Is 296B. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 September 2000 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Eugene Is 296B

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Bell 206-L1

Registration

N27680

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eugene Is 286 → Eugene Is 296B

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW00LA252

1 person was seriously injured.

The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After about 2 hours and 54 minutes of flight, the helicopter had a loss of engine power while on final approach to an offshore oil platform. The pilot initiated an autorotation and subsequently landed hard on rough/choppy ocean water. Fuel consumption calculations, provided by the operator, showed that the helicopter could have been at or near fuel exhaustion at the time of the accident. The helicopter sank to the bottom of the ocean, thus precluding available fuel verification and examination of aircraft systems. Therefore, the reason for the loss of power could not be determined conclusively.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.