Eurocopter France AS350B2 accident near S. Padre Island, TX

On February 6, 2008, an Eurocopter France AS350B2 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near S. Padre Island, TX. 3 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.

Date

February 6, 2008

Place

S. Padre Island, TX

Aircraft

Eurocopter France AS350B2 · Helicopter

Injuries

3 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Substantial

Position

26.139°N, 97.207°W

NTSB ID

20080222X00227

Official records · DFW08FA062

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• Transcript of ATC communications: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• Transcript of MedCom dispatch recording: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• Map 1 Summary of ATC Radar Hits: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• ATC 3 - Attachment 1 - Spread sheet of Radar replies: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On February 5, 2008, at 2054 central standard time, a Eurocopter France AS350B2 emergency medical service (EMS) helicopter, N911VA, operated by Metro Aviation, Inc., Shreveport, Louisiana, and was registered to Harlingen Comm Emergency Care Foundation, Inc., doing business as Valley Air Care, Harlingen, Texas, impacted the Laguna Madre near South Padre Island, Texas. The helicopter was destroyed. The airline transport pilot, flight nurse, and flight paramedic sustained fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 flight. The helicopter departed the Valley Baptist Medical Center Heliport (49TX), Harlingen, Texas, at 2040 and was en route to pick up a patient at an emergency landing zone in the parking lot of the South Padre Island Convention Center at South Padre Island, Texas. The flight to the emergency landing zone at South Padre Island from 49TX was 26.7 miles on a magnetic course of 88 degrees. The accident helicopter was equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) flight tracking system referred to as OuterLink. According to the OuterLink system, the helicopter powered up for flight at 2037:09 and departed the 49TX helipad at 2040:35. At 2041:12, the pilot using the call sign Air Care One, contacted the controlling Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control facility, Valley Approach Control, located in the Corpus Christi Air Traffic Control Tower, Corpus Christi, Texas, and initiated visual flight rules (VFR) flight following for

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control resulting in the helicopter impacting the water. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilot's inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions, the low ceiling, dark night conditions, and the pilot's lack of recent instrument flying experience.

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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.