Bell 205A-1 N90HJ

Summary

On 12 September 1997 at about 23:40 local time, a Bell 205A-1 registered N90HJ, operated by National Park Service, was involved in an accident near Sequim, Washington, United States. 8 people were on board and 3 died, 5 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 September 1997 at 23:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Sequim, Washington, United States

Coordinates

48.0602, -123.0598

Aircraft

Bell 205A-1

Registration

N90HJ

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

National Park Service

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Angeles → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX97GA325

3 people died.

the pilot's intentional flight into known adverse weather conditions in mountainous terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The public-use helicopter was being operated in a joint effort search for a missing hiker outside of the park. The single pilot had landed at a remote landing zone in mountainous terrain to retrieve seven search and rescue personnel plus a dog. The pilot advised the SAR personnel to load quick, as he had no intentions of spending the night there. The pilot held up five fingers to ground personnel, who assumed that meant to wait 5 minutes for the obscuration to clear. However, in less than that time, the helicopter performed a vertical takeoff in the obscuration. According to the remaining SAR personnel, they lost sight of the helicopter about 50 feet agl. They continued to hear the helicopter to the time of a collision sound, followed by the sound of an avalanche. The remaining SAR personnel departed the landing zone for cover.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.