Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Wednesday, December 07, 2011 in Las Vegas, NV
Aircraft: EUROCOPTER FRANCE AS350B2, registration: N37SH
Injuries: 5 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On December 7, 2011 at 1630 Pacific Standard Time, a Eurocopter AS350-B2, registration N37SH, operated by Sundance Helicopters as flight Landmark 57, crashed in mountainous terrain approximately 14 miles east of Las Vegas, Nevada. The 14 CFR Part 135 flight was a tourist sightseeing flight, which departed from Las Vegas McCarren International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas, NV, intending to fly to the Hoover Dam area and return to LAS, operating under visual flight rules. The helicopter impacted in a narrow ravine in mountainous terrain between the city of Henderson and Lake Mead. The pilot and four passengers were fatally injured, and the helicopter was substantially damaged by impact forces and post-crash fire. Weather was reported as clear with good visibility and dusk light conditions.
Radar data obtained from the FAA show that the helicopter departed LAS and followed a normal route of flight easterly out of the LAS airport traffic area, then turned to the southeast toward Hoover Dam. Tour routings are standardized for all the area tour operators. The helicopter was level at 3,500 feet mean sea level (MSL) at approximately 120 knots. About one minute prior to the accident, the radar indicated the helicopter climbed to 4,100 feet MSL and turned about 90 degrees to the left. The left turn and climb are not part of the normal route. Radar then indicated the helicopter descended to 3,300 feet MSL and tracked a northeasterly course for about 20 seconds, until entering a left turn then a descent. The last radar target received was about 1/8 miles from the accident site.
A lawyer representing a honeymooning couple from India killed in a Las Vegas sightseeing helicopter crash has filed the first negligence lawsuit in the case.
LAS VEGAS -- The first wrongful death lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Nevada on behalf of the families of a honeymooning couple from India killed in a Las Vegas sightseeing helicopter crash that also took the lives of the pilot and a northwest Kansas couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
The civil lawsuit names Las Vegas-based Sundance Helicopters Inc., the operator of the twilight flight that crashed Dec. 7 near Lake Mead.
"The families are heartbroken by these deaths, and they want answers," said Gary Robb, the Kansas City, Mo.-based lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the parents of Lovish Bhanot, 28, and Anupama Bhola, 26.
Sundance officials did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court.
Also killed in the crash were pilot Landon Nield, 31, of Las Vegas and tourists Delwin and Tamara Chapman, both 49, of Utica. Nield, a devout Mormon who grew up in Wyoming and Utah, was a newlywed who was married in June, and the Chapmans were in Las Vegas celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Robb pointed to a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Tuesday that focused on unexplained turns and a sudden climb moments before the AS350-B2 aircraft crashed in a remote ravine.
"The left turn and climb are not part of the normal route," said the report, which summarized some details of the crash that were already made public. The report makes no conclusions or recommendations. NTSB officials said a final report on the crash could take a year.
Transportation board member Mark Rosekind told reporters last week the ill-fated helicopter, built in 1989, underwent routine maintenance the day before the crash. The engine was replaced, along with mechanical devices called servo-actuators in the tail and main rotor.
The chopper made one test flight and two passenger tours before the fatal last flight. Rosekind said evidence showed the engine was producing power when the aircraft crashed.
Radar records show approximately a minute before the crash, the aircraft climbed 600 feet and turned sharply left, fell 800 feet, turned left again and plunged into the ravine, the report said.
"All indications are that they had an inflight loss of control," Robb said. "That's the only possible explanation for the erratic and abnormal maneuvers prior to the crash."
Robb, who specializes in helicopter crash safety lawsuits, won a $38 million settlement in a Nevada court in December 2005 on behalf of a New York woman severely burned and injured in a Grand Canyon sightseeing helicopter crash.
NTSB investigators were due to leave Las Vegas on Tuesday, a day after large pieces of the wreckage were airlifted out of the ravine for transport to Phoenix and testing at an NTSB lab. The French accident investigation agency BEA also is taking part because the aircraft was built in France.
Sundance Helicopters chief executive Larry Pietropaolo previously said there was no distress call before an automatic GPS signal stopped during what typically is a 40-minute twilight tour over Hoover Dam and the neon-lit Las Vegas Strip.
The helicopter was not required to have a "black box" data recorder and was not equipped with one.
The crash renewed questions about air tour safety and focused scrutiny on a company that had at least five accidents since 1994 and was the subject of 10 federal enforcement actions, mostly for minor infractions.
In September 2003, a pilot and six passengers were killed when a Sundance helicopter slammed into a canyon wall east of the Grand Canyon West Airport. The pilot was blamed for violating federal aviation regulations. The company was not punished.
Pietropaolo said he believes Sundance has an excellent safety record compared with the air tour industry and general aviation.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 37SH Make/Model: AS35 Description: EUROCOPTER AS350
Date: 12/08/2011 Time: 0115
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: LAS VEGAS State: NV Country: US
DESCRIPTION
N37SH EUROCOPTER AS350B2 SUNDANCE AIR TOUR ROTORCRAFT CRASHED INTO ROUGH
TERRIAN, THE 5 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, 12 MILES FROM LAS
VEGAS, NV
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 5
# Crew: 1 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 4 Fat: 4 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: VFR
OTHER DATA
Activity: Aerial Observation Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: LAS VEGAS, NV (WP19) Entry date: 12/08/2011
No comments:
Post a Comment