ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 231724
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| Date: | Thursday 26 December 2019 |
| Time: | 16:57 LT |
| Type: |  Aérospatiale AS 350B2 Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Safari Helicopters |
| Registration: | N985SA |
| MSN: | 3111 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1998 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 21854 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 24 mls NW of Lihue, Kauai, HI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Lihue, HI |
| Lihue, HI | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
An Aérospatiale AS 350B2 helicopter, N985SA, was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire when it collided with terrain about 24 miles northwest of Lihue, Hawaii. The commercial pilot and six passengers were fatally injured.
The accident flight was the pilot's eighth and last scheduled 50-minute aerial tour flight of the day. About 16:32, the pilot radioed Safari Helicopters' headquarters reporting a departure time of 16:31. Shortly thereafter, another company pilot heard the accident pilot report his position at "Tree Tunnel," an air tour reporting point, on the common traffic advisory frequency.
About 16:45, an air tour pilot from a different company reported that he heard the accident pilot report "Upper Mic," which was a compulsory air tour reporting point that indicated the accident helicopter was exiting the Waimea Canyon and beginning a transition over to the Na Pali coastline via Koke'e State Park.
The helicopter failed to return and an extensive search was initiated. The next day about 09:32, the accident site was located within the Koke'e State Park. The helicopter impacted tropical mountainous terrain on a north facing slope at an elevation of about 3,003 ft mean sea level (msl) and came to rest at an elevation of about 2,900 ft msl.
A witness located about 1.5 to 1.75 miles up the Nualolo Trail within the Koke'e State Park near the time of the accident reported weather conditions of about 20 ft visibility in rain and fog.
Probable cause: "The pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), which resulted in the collision into terrain. Contributing to the accident was Safari Aviation Inc.’s lack of safety management processes to identify hazards and mitigate the risks associated with factors that influence pilots to continue VFR flight into IMC. Also contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s delayed implementation of a Hawaii aviation weather camera program, its lack of leadership in the development of a cue-based weather training program for Hawaii air tour pilots, and its ineffective monitoring and oversight of Hawaii air tour operators’ weather-related operating practices."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/12/27/coast-guard-searching-missing-chopper-off-kauai-with-people-onboard/
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/tour-helicopter-carrying-7-goes-missing-off-hawaii-coast/2192980/
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/27/us/hawaii-tour-helicopter-missing/index.html
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/12/27/coast-guard-searching-missing-chopper-off-kauai-with-people-onboard/
https://www.khon2.com/local-news/crews-searching-near-kauais-na-pali-coast-for-a-missing-tour-helicopter-with-7-people-aboard/
https://www.wthr.com/article/coast-guard-tour-helicopter-carrying-7-missing-hawaii
https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/628316-kauai-tour-helicopter-missing-12-27-a.html
https://www.foxnews.com/us/coast-guard-searches-for-helicopter-carrying-7-off-hawaii?fbclid=IwAR3K2U0vz7ue0kdM6vKbHmNRej9C7rYg_Xmh3L8xODagezoIvXXLw93i1XQ
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/12/27/coast-guard-searching-missing-chopper-off-kauai-with-people-onboard/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-7891869/Visibility-low-Hawaii-tour-helicopter-crashed.html
Data ___________________________________________
https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:9:::NO::P95_EVENT_LCL_DATE,P95_LOC_CITY_NAME,P95_REGIST_NBR:26-DEC-19,LIHUE,N985SA
https://imgproc.airliners.net/photos/airliners/5/9/7/1654795.jpg?v=v40 (photo)
NTSB __________________________________________
https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/ReportGeneratorFile.ashx?EventID=20191227X75520&AKey=1&RType=Prelim&IType=MA
https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AIR2205.pdf
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 1 February 2001 | N985SA | Safari Helicopters | 0 | Lihue, Kauai, HI | |
sub |
Location
Images:
Photo (c) NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Dec-2019 10:50 | gerard57 | Added |
| 27-Dec-2019 10:57 | gerard57 | Updated [Date, Location] |
| 27-Dec-2019 11:35 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2019 11:39 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Narrative, Photo] |
| 27-Dec-2019 11:46 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2019 12:03 | Aerossurance | Updated [Operator, Location, Nature, Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2019 12:03 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2019 12:03 | Aerossurance | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Dec-2019 13:14 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Location, Embed code] |
| 27-Dec-2019 16:14 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source, Embed code] |
| 27-Dec-2019 19:46 | harro | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 27-Dec-2019 19:56 | harro | Updated [Operator, Nature, Source] |
| 27-Dec-2019 22:40 | Captain Adam | Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 28-Dec-2019 12:14 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Narrative] |
| 30-Dec-2019 17:24 | harro | Updated [Registration, Cn, Source] |
| 30-Dec-2019 22:28 | RobertMB | Updated [Aircraft type, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jan-2020 01:38 | Captain Adam | Updated [Photo] |
| 12-Jan-2020 17:18 | Aerossurance | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 15-Jan-2020 20:39 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source] |
| 15-Jan-2020 21:00 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Dec-2021 16:57 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Location, Nature, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 12-May-2022 16:19 | harro | Updated [Location, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 26-May-2022 19:00 | harro | Updated [Embed code, Accident report] |
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