Bell 206B accident near Bonifay, FL
On February 5, 2005, a Bell 206B (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Bonifay, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- February 5, 2005
- Place
- Bonifay, FL
- Aircraft
- Bell 206B · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 30.825°N, 85.800°W
- NTSB ID
- 20050210X00170
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On February 5, 2005, about 0550 central standard time, a Bell 206B JetRanger helicopter, N35BA, registered to, and operated by Lance Aviation, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 positioning flight, crashed in the town of Bonifay, in Holmes County, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The commercial-rated pilot received fatal injuries, and the helicopter incurred substantial damage. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. A witness, the pilot's wife, stated that the helicopter had been parked overnight at her parent's residence, and on the morning of the accident it was being repositioned to its home base at Lance Aviation, in Lakeland, Florida. She said that she awakened with her husband and prepared breakfast while he preflighted the helicopter. After breakfast she then watched as her husband prepared to depart. Prior to departure she said her husband used the garden hose and washed the windscreen with water. He then embarked the helicopter, started the engine, and "warmed up the helicopter." She said he then lifted the helicopter into a hover, and hover taxied from the back of the house, where it had been parked, and initiated a normal takeoff in the open field to the side of the house, as he had done in the past. She said she watched the takeoff, and at an altitude of about 75 to 100 feet, the helicopter assumed a slight nose low descending attitude. She said this was something her husband did not normally do when he departs, and it made her think that he was going to land the helicopter. She said the
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain a climb after takeoff and his continued descent which resulted in an in-flight collision with the ground. A factor in the accident was the dark night.
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Browse: Florida · Bell aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
