Aerospatiale AS350BA N355NT

Summary

On 24 September 2005 at about 00:15 local time, a Aerospatiale AS350BA registered N355NT, operated by Heli USA, was involved in an accident near Haena, Hawaii, United States. 6 people were on board and 3 died, 3 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 September 2005 at 00:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Haena, Hawaii, United States

Coordinates

22.2214, -159.5803

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS350BA

Registration

N355NT

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Heli USA

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lihue → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA05MA199

3 people died.

The pilot's decision to continue flight into adverse weather conditions, which resulted in a loss of control due to an encounter with a microburst. Contributing to the accident was inadequate Federal Aviation Administration surveillance of Special Federal Aviation Regulation 71 operating restrictions. Contributing to the loss of life in the accident was the lack of helicopter flotation equipment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

[ The Safety Board's full brief is available at http://ntsb.gov/Publictn/publictn.htm. The Aviation Accident Brief number is NTSB/AAB-07/01. ] On September 23, 2005, about 1415 Hawaiian standard time, an Aerospatiale AS350BA helicopter, N355NT, registered to Jan Leasing, LLC, and operated by Heli-USA Airways, Inc., of Las Vegas, Nevada, encountered adverse weather and crashed into the Pacific Ocean several hundred feet off the coast of Kailiu Point, near Haena, Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. The sightseeing air tour flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 and visual flight rules with a company flight plan in effect. Localized instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the vicinity of the accident site. Three passengers were killed, and the commercial pilot and two other passengers received minor injuries. The flight departed from Lihue Airport, Lihue, Hawaii, on the island of Kauai, at 1354 for the intended 45-minute tour.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.