Bell 206 L-1 N1078C

Summary

On 17 July 2004 at about 14:30 local time, a Bell 206 L-1 registered N1078C was involved in an accident near Cameron, Louisiana, 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

17 July 2004 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Cameron, Louisiana, United States

Nearest airport

Cameron, LA (private helipad)

Coordinates

29.6336, -93.3078

Aircraft

Bell 206 L-1

Registration

N1078C

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wc 645 → Cameron

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW04FA186

1 person died.

The helicopter's in-flight collision with water for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The 18,056-hour pilot made a mayday distress call on the common traffic advisory frequency stating that "he was going down." No further radio transmissions were received from the pilot. The helicopter impacted the water about 8 miles short of it intended destination. The positioning flight was scheduled from an offshore oil platform to the company's on-shore operations base. Signatures of the recovered wreckage were consistent with an uncontrolled impact with the water. There were no reported eyewitnesses to the accident, and no significant weather was reported in the area at the time of the accident. No mechanical anomalies were found with the airframe or the engine during the course of the investigation. The engine teardown examination at the engine manufacturer's factory did not reveal any anomalies that could have prevented normal operations. Several helicopter components and parts were further examined at the helicopter manufacturer's laboratory. No anomalies or pre-existing faults were found with any of the examined parts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.