Eurocopter AS-350-B2 N352LN

Summary

On 26 August 2011 at about 23:41 local time, a Eurocopter AS-350-B2 registered N352LN, operated by Air Methods Corporation, was involved in an accident near Mosby, Missouri, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 August 2011 at 23:41

Classification

Accident

Location

Mosby, Missouri, United States

Nearest airport

Midwest National Air Center (GPH)

Coordinates

39.3567, -94.2975

Aircraft

Eurocopter AS-350-B2

Registration

N352LN

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Air Methods Corporation

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bethany → Mosby

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN11FA599

4 people died.

The pilot's failure to confirm that the helicopter had adequate fuel on board to complete the mission before making the first departure, his improper decision to continue the mission and make a second departure after he became aware of a critically low fuel level, and his failure to successfully enter an autorotation when the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident were (1) the pilot's distracted attention due to personal texting during safety-critical ground and flight operations, (2) his degraded performance due to fatigue, (3) the operator's lack of a policy requiring that an operational control center specialist be notified of abnormal fuel situations, and (4) the lack of practice representative of an actual engine failure at cruise airspeed in the pilot's autorotation training in the accident make and model helicopter.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board’s full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/reports_aviation.html. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-13/02. On August 26, 2011, about 1841 central daylight time, a Eurocopter AS350 B2 helicopter, N352LN, crashed following a loss of engine power as a result of fuel exhaustion near the Midwest National Air Center (GPH), Mosby, Missouri. The pilot, flight nurse, flight paramedic, and patient were killed, and the helicopter was substantially damaged by impact forces. The emergency medical services (EMS) helicopter was registered to Key Equipment Finance, Inc., and operated by Air Methods Corporation, doing business as LifeNet in the Heartland, as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 medical flight. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The helicopter was not equipped, and was not required to be equipped, with any onboard recording devices. The flight originated from Harrison County Community Hospital, Bethany, Missouri, about 1811 and was en route to GPH to refuel. After refueling, the pilot planned to proceed to Liberty Hospital, Liberty, Missouri, which was located about 7 nautical miles (nm) from GPH.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.