Bell 407 accident near Huntsville, TX
On June 8, 2008, a Bell 407 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Huntsville, TX. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- June 8, 2008
- Place
- Huntsville, TX
- Aircraft
- Bell 407 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 30.631°N, 95.564°W
- NTSB ID
- 20080613X00858
Official records · DEN08FA101
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Transcripts of Voice Communications - DEN08FA101: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
This report was updated on August 14, 2009. On June 8, 2008, at 0248 central daylight time, a Bell 407 emergency medical services (EMS) helicopter, N416PH, owned by PHI, Inc., and operated by PHI as Med 12, was destroyed when it impacted a heavily forested area in the Sam Houston National Forest, south of Huntsville, Texas. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The air ambulance flight was being operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on a company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan. The pilot, flight nurse, flight paramedic, and passenger were fatally injured. The flight had departed the Huntsville Memorial Hospital Heliport (KTE03) at 0246, after picking up a patient, and was en route to the John S. Dunn Helistop (K38TE) at the Herman Memorial Hospital, Houston, Texas. The flight to K38TE was 68.7 nautical miles on a magnetic bearing of 168.1 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 0244:11 and departed the hospital at 0246:56. The last coordinates recorded by the Outerlink system were recorded at 0247 at an altitude of 1,016 feet mean sea level (approximately 600 feet above ground level (agl)), while traveling at a groundspeed of 106 knots. The calculated direction of flight was 170 degrees. Med 12's first position report was due at 0300. According to an emergency room clerk at Memorial Hospital - The Woodlands, the acc
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to identify and arrest the helicopter's descent, which resulted in its impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the limited outside visual reference due to the dark night conditions.
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Browse: Texas · 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.
