Bell 206B N3186L
20 March 1998 · Santa Clarita, California, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 20 March 1998 at about 01:40 local time, a Bell 206B registered N3186L was involved in an accident near Santa Clarita, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 01:40
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Santa Clarita, California, United States
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
- Aircraft
- Bell 206B
- Registration
- N3186L
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Public Use
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Van Nuys → Newhall
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Dusk
- NTSB number
- LAX98TA123
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Probable cause
The failure of the pilot to maintain adequate clearance with the wires. Additional factors in this accident are the position of the sun at that time of the day, which made it difficult to see the wires, and the lack of markings or poles for that series of wires.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that he was making a normal approach to a dry riverbed on a southwesterly heading directly into the sun. He reported that 'moments before I hit the wires, I saw them and made an evasive maneuver to avoid them.' He then clipped the wire with the main rotor blades and as he attempted to turn away, he clipped the tail rotor. The pilot stated that he then flew the helicopter to the ground and made ground contact in a level attitude. The helicopter landed hard and rolled over onto its right side. The series of wires were at a measured height of 39 feet agl and spanned lengthwise approximately 1,200 feet between poles or other markings. The sun and moon position information for the time of the accident showed the sun's position to be at 4.6 degrees above the horizon. The sun's azimuth was at 252 degrees. Official sunset that evening was at 1808.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Bell 206 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jul 1998 | Bell 206L-3 | Reklaw, Texas, United States | U.s. Forest Service | Minor injuries | - |
| 21 Aug 1998 | Bell 206B | Salinas, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 3 Oct 1998 | Bell 206B | Vernal, Utah, United States | Enterprise Aviation, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 25 May 1998 | Bell 206L-3 | Indian Trail, North Carolina, United States | - | Fatal | 5 |
| 15 Aug 1998 | Bell 206B II | Chickaloon, Alaska, United States | Alaska State Troopers | No injuries | - |
| 12 Sep 1998 | Bell 206B-3 | Hinkley, Minnesota, United States | - | No injuries | - |
All 1,732 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 1998 | Cessna 152 | Avalon, California, United States | Orange County Flight Center | Fatal | 1 |
| 5 Oct 1998 | Grumman TS-2A | Banning, California, United States | - | Fatal | 1 |
| 15 Aug 1998 | North American NAVION | Salinas, California, United States | - | Fatal | 2 |
| 21 Aug 1998 | Robinson R22B | Ramona, California, United States | Civic Helicopters | No injuries | - |
| 27 Aug 1998 | Aerospatiale SA316B | Porterville, California, United States | U.s. Dept. of the Interior | No injuries | - |
| 29 Jul 1998 | Cessna 150K | Yorba Linda, California, United States | - | No injuries | - |