Bell 206B accident near Los Angeles, CA

On January 15, 1995, a Bell 206B (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Los Angeles, CA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

January 15, 1995

Place

Los Angeles, CA

Aircraft

Bell 206B · Helicopter

Injuries

2 fatal, 2 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

34.131°N, 118.331°W

NTSB ID

20001207X02876

NTSB summary

History of Flight On January 14, 1995, at 1945 hours Pacific standard time, a Bell 206B helicopter, N2209P, collided with a high-voltage transmission wire and crashed next to State Highway 101 (aka Hollywood Freeway), Los Angeles, California. The pilot was conducting a visual flight rules (VFR) air taxi flight to the TransAmerica Building in downtown Los Angeles. He did not file a flight plan. The pilot was operating under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 135. The helicopter, registered to Fleet Management, Pasadena, California, and operated by Wolfe Air Aviation Ltd., Burbank, California, was destroyed. The certificated airline transport pilot and the left front seat passenger sustained fatal injuries; the two rear seat passengers sustained serious injuries. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at Burbank Airport at 1939 hours. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Burbank Airport Traffic Control Tower recorded communications media, the pilot initially contacted the local controller at 1938:28 hours and requested a special vfr clearance " . . . southeast bound . . . ." The local controller responded, " . . . will that be to the special flight rules aah correction aah to cahuenga pass . . . ? The pilot responded, "Aah I'll tell you we'll head towards cahuenga pass, but Im gonna assume we'll have to follow the Ventura Freeway from there eastbound then." The local controller issued the pilot a special VFR clearance out of the Class C airspace and instructed the pilot to remain at or below 1,500 feet mean sea level (msl). At

Probable cause

THE PILOT'S CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE PILOT'S AND OPERATOR'S FAILURE TO FOLLOW THEIR ESTABLISHED DISPATCH PROCEDURES, THE PILOT'S POOR JUDGMENT IN INITIATING THE FLIGHT, AND THE EXISTING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.