ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 44906
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| Date: | Tuesday 23 March 2004 |
| Time: | 00:01 LT |
| Type: |  Sikorsky S-76A |
| Owner/operator: | Era Aviation Inc. |
| Registration: | N579EH |
| MSN: | 760274 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1984 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1069 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca Arriel 1S1 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 70nm SW off Galveston, TX, Gulf of Mexico -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Offshore |
| Departure airport: | Galveston-Scholes Field, TX (GLS/KGLS) |
| Drillship Discovery Spirit, GOM | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On March 23, 2004, about 1918:34 central standard time, an Era Aviation Sikorsky S-76A helicopter, N579EH, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico about 70 nautical miles south-southeast of Scholes International Airport (GLS), Galveston, Texas. The helicopter was transporting eight oil service personnel to the Transocean, Inc., drilling ship Discoverer Spirit, which was en route to a location about 180 miles south-southeast of GLS. The captain, copilot, and eight passengers aboard the helicopter were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact forces. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on a visual flight rules flight plan. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Probable Cause: the flight crew's failure to identify and arrest the helicopter's descent for undetermined reasons, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20040422X00501&key=1
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-06/02 https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0602.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Oct-2008 00:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 12-Jun-2010 11:53 | TB | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 19-Mar-2016 13:16 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:24 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 24-Jun-2017 17:48 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 07-Dec-2017 17:50 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 10-Dec-2018 22:45 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Mar-2021 11:47 | Aerossurance | Updated [Operator, Nature, Source] |
| 15-Mar-2024 14:44 | ASN | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Narrative, Accident report] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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