Bell 206 accident near Ashland, OR
On January 23, 2019, a Bell 206 (helicopter) was involved in an accident near Ashland, OR. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- January 23, 2019
- Place
- Ashland, OR
- Aircraft
- Bell 206 · Helicopter
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 42.067°N, 122.596°W
- NTSB ID
- 20190125X53328
Official records · WPR19LA071
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn January 23, 2019, at 1143 Pacific standard time, a Bell 206L-3, N8227J, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Ashland, Oregon. The pilot was fatally injured. The helicopter was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 flight. The pilot was operating out of Medford Airport (MFR), Medford, Oregon, with the purpose of amassing flight-time to fulfill the operator’s annual flight-time requirements. On the day prior, he had flown the accident helicopter on two different flights totaling five hours of flight time. A review of the preliminary radar data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration disclosed that in the 1.5 hours following departure, the helicopter maneuvered in the local area west of Ashland making numerous turns. Thereafter the helicopter continued south over the Siskiyou Summit and after making various low-level maneuvers, followed Interstate 5 (I-5) toward Hilt, Oregon. Around 1120 the helicopter began to head north and made several turns and slow maneuvers. At 1141, the helicopter continued north and adjoined the I-5 for about 1.5 minutes. At 1142:50 the radar track showed that the helicopter then made several turns until heading east. The last radar return at 1143:30 was located in the immediate vicinity of the accident site and oriented about 600 ft east of the interstate at an elevation of about 4,100 ft. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONAccording to the operator, the pilot had amassed about 84 hours in the year proceeding the accident during 39 flights. During that time, 55.6 hours were in the
Probable cause
The pilot's decision to continue visual flight into deteriorating weather, which resulted in an encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and spatial disorientation leading to a loss of control.
More accidents in OR
- Cessna T207A, Aug 21, 1986
- Piper PA-28-180, Sep 1, 1984
- Piper PA-28RT-201, Mar 12, 1984
- Piper PA 46-310P, Apr 7, 2017
- Cessna 172, Jun 23, 2012
Browse: Oregon · 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.
