Sikorsky S-76C accident near Morgan City, LA
On January 4, 2009, a Sikorsky S-76C (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Morgan City, LA. 8 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 4, 2009
- Place
- Morgan City, LA
- Aircraft
- Sikorsky S-76C · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 8 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 29.729°N, 91.130°W
- NTSB ID
- 20090104X12037
Official records · CEN09MA117
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 4, 2009, at 1409 Central Standard Time (CST), a Sikorsky S-76C++ helicopter, N748P, registered to and operated by PHI, Inc. (PHI), as a 14 CFR Part 135 air taxi flight using day visual flight rules (VFR), crashed into marshy terrain approximately 7 minutes after takeoff and 12 miles southeast of the departure heliport. The helicopter sustained substantial damage. Both pilots and six of the seven passengers were killed, and 1 passenger was critically injured. The helicopter departed Lake Palourde Base Heliport, a PHI base (7LS3), in Amelia, Louisiana, and was en route to the South Timbalier oil platform ST301B to transport workers from two different oil exploration companies. No flight plan was filed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), nor was one required. A company flight following plan was filed with the PHI Communications Center that included weather updates, pertinent advisories, and position reports. The flight was tracked via Outerlink, a satellite based fleet-tracking system used by the PHI communications center based in Lafayette, Louisiana. The helicopter departed 7LS3 at 1402. The helicopter’s flight track, recorded by the Outerlink system, ended about 7 minutes after departure, at 1409. There were no reports of any distress calls or emergency transmissions from the flight crew on the PHI radio frequencies, or on any monitored air traffic control frequencies. A search and rescue operation was initiated at 1414 after the US Air Force received a 406 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) distress signal with the helicopter’s
Probable cause
(1) the sudden loss of power to both engines that resulted from impact with a bird (red-tailed hawk), which fractured the windshield and interfered with engine fuel controls, and (2) the subsequent disorientation of the flight crewmembers, which left them unable to recover from the loss of power. Contributing to the accident were (1) the lack of Federal Aviation Administration regulations and guid
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Browse: Louisiana · Sikorsky 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.
