Bell 407 N407MM

Summary

On 29 December 2000 at about 13:30 local time, a Bell 407 registered N407MM, operated by Petroleum Helicopters, Inc., was involved in an accident near Gilchrist, 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.

Date

29 December 2000 at 13:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Gilchrist, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.4325, -94.5431

Aircraft

Bell 407

Registration

N407MM

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Petroleum Helicopters, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cameron → Galveston

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW01FA043

1 person died.

The loss of control for reasons undetermined.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a repositioning flight conducted in visual meteorological conditions, the helicopter disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico. No distress calls from the pilot were received. The main wreckage was located 2 days after the accident, with about 3-feet of the tail boom still attached. Deformation of the wreckage indicated evidence of an uncontrolled impact with the water. Five days later another section (middle) of the tail boom was recovered, floating about 60 miles from the main wreckage. When examined, this section revealed 4 tail rotor blade strike marks in relative distance along the tail boom of the tail rotor tip path plane. Fifty-eight days later, the aft most section of the tail boom was found washed up on the shoreline. Examination of this section revealed a missing rod end, which was part of the tail rotor pitch control system. It could not be determined if the rod end came loose in flight or during the impact with the water. According to the autopsy report, the pilot's death was due to traumatic injury with a "contributing" cause of an "acute occlusion to left anterior descending coronary artery of the heart." No definite conclusions could be drawn as to the reason for the loss of control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.