14 CFR Non-U.S., Non-Commercial
Accident occurred Thursday, November 22, 2012 in Great Guana Cay, Bahamas
Aircraft: AEROSPATIALE AS-355F1, registration: C6-APV
Injuries: 1 Fatal,4 Serious.
The foreign authority was the source of this information.
On November 22, 2012, about 1310 eastern standard time, an Aerospatiale AS 355F1, Bahamian registration C6-APV, registered to Pioneer Caribbean Logistics Ltd., impacted terrain while attempting to land at Baker's Bay Resort, Great Guana Cay, Bahamas. The pilot and three passengers were seriously injured, while a fourth passenger was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that departed Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, destined for Baker's Bay Resort.
The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Bahamas. Any further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from:
Manager of Flight Standards Inspectorate, Bahamas
P.O. Box AP 59244
Nassau, N.P. Bahamas
Phone: (242) 377-3445/3448
Facsimile: (242) 377-6060
This report is for information purposes only, and contains only information released by or obtained for the Bahamian Government.
The Bahamas Ministry of Transportation and Aviation has completed its preliminary report on the Abaco helicopter crash that killed a New York businessman last week.
The report, which was completed through the Civil Aviation Department’s Air Accident Investigation and Prevention Unit, found that control of the helicopter was lost while attempting to land at the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club on Abaco’s Great Guana Cay.
Florida-based real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer, whose company owns the Fontainebleau resort in Miami Beach, was among the crash’s survivors.
The helicopter first departed from Marsh Harbour International Airport at 1:10 PM EST on Thursday, Nov. 22, with five passengers on board.
“While attempting to land, control was lost, resulting in the helicopter crash-landing at Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club, Great Guana Cay, Abaco,” the report said.
The crash killed one passenger and left four others with “injuries of varying severity.”
“The surviving passengers were rescued and stabilized prior to being transported to Marsh Harbour for further evaluations prior to being airlifted to South Florida [three persons] and Nassau [1 person],” the report said.
A three-member team from the Bahamas Civil Aviation Department began the investigation on Friday, and members of the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club and the Royal Bahamas Police Force provided a “detailed briefing” to them.
The Air Accident Investigation Prevention Unit completed its on-site investigations, recovered the wreckage and relocated it to a “secure location.”
According to International Civil Aviation Organization and Bahamas Civli Aviation Safety regulations, the manufacturers of the airframe, engine and propeller and the State of Design have been notified of the accident.
The unit is currently coordinating plans for additional analysis and testing to determine the cause and contributing factors of the accident, it said.
The Ministry said it was expected that “further analyses and testing will take place” to determine the cause and contributing factors of the crash.
“The Ministry of Transport and Aviation extends its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and its best wishes for the speedy recovery of the survivors of the crash,” it said in a statement.
http://www.caribjournal.com
The victim of Thursday's fatal helicopter crash at Baker's Bay Golf and Ocean Club on Guana Cay, Abaco, has been identified as Lance O. Valdez, a Lyford Cay resident, who owned the downed rotorcraft.
Though police were yesterday reluctant to confirm the victim's identity, several Lyford Cay residents and others who knew him confirmed it is Valdez, a Lyford Cay property owner, whose two young daughters attend Lyford Cay International School.
The Nassau Guardian understands that Valdez and the others on board were friends and family of Jeffrey Soffer, owner of the Fontainebleau Resorts in Miami.
Soffer was at the property at the time of the crash, but it is still unclear if he was on the helicopter when it went down.
The four survivors were airlifted to New Providence and Miami, Florida.
All five people on-board are Americans, police confirmed.
Daniel Figueroa, an aircraft mechanic at Fontainebleau Aviation at Opa-Locka Executive Airport (KOPF) in Miami, said he and several colleagues were saddened by the loss.
"We all knew him at Fontainebleau," he said from Miami yesterday. "I received the call early Friday around 12:35 a.m. about the accident. He has a wife and a daughter (and was a) very nice man."
Figueroa said that the helicopter belonged to Valdez.
Several members of the Lyford Cay community remembered Valdez fondly yesterday.
"He was a very loving husband and father to his wife and kids, who loved tennis and loved to travel," a Lyford Cay resident, who asked not to be named, said.
She claimed she occasionally visited Valdez's niece at his home and "he will be greatly missed by those close to him".
A second Lyford Cay resident and neighbor of Valdez, who also did not wish to be identified, said, "[His daughter was a] classmate of my daughter – tragic."
A team from the Civil Aviation Department yesterday traveled to Abaco to investigate the crash, said Ivan Cleare, acting director of the Civil Aviation Department.
"They are presently on the ground at Marsh Harbour en route to Baker's Bay to carry out the investigation,"?he said.
"Until we hear from them, we cannot say anything further to this accident."
He said the team of three would submit a preliminary report that he expects to make public by 3 p.m. today.
A source at the resort, who witnessed the crash, said as the helicopter attempted to land it went into a tailspin twice before crashing, throwing one of the victims out of the cabin.
http://freeport.nassauguardian.net
At least one person is dead, and four others seriously injured after a helicopter crashed at the Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club in Guana Cay, Abaco, shortly before 1pm yesterday.
According to an eye-witness, the helicopter crashed near the property’s townhouses after it was caught by a violent gust of wind as it attempted to land.
Reportedly the helicopter’s rotor blade hit the ground – flinging three of the passengers from the chopper.
The co-pilot was reportedly killed by the blades.
One of the women passengers had to be cut out of her seat’s harness, while the pilot received serious head and abdominal injuries.
The passengers have yet to be identified, but a Florida TV station, CBS Miami, identified one as Jeffrey Soffer, head of top US real estate company Turnberry and owner of the famous Miami hotel Fontainebleau. He is said to be alive, but injured.
Dr James Hull, of the Marsh Harbour Medical Centre, stabilized the pilot so that he could be flown to Nassau by the US Coast Guard for admittance to Doctor’s Hospital. Two of the passengers were then taken to his Marsh Harbour clinic, while the third passenger was seen by the doctor at the government clinic.
Once the three passengers were stabilized they were flown by a private plane to the United States.
The co-pilot, who was killed in the crash, is believed to be a second home owner in the Bahamas who had traveled to Abaco for Thanksgiving.
The helicopter was ferrying the group from Marsh Harbour to Baker’s Bay where persons were waiting to meet them. “The first report to reach Marsh Harbour,” said a local, “was that the helicopter had crashed into a group of people. Thank heavens this was not true, but it is a miracle no one else was killed, because I heard that pieces from the rotar blade were flying in all directions.”
According to the Associated Press, Baker’s Bay employees helped pull the survivors from the wreckage. They were then taken by boat from Guana Cay to Marsh Harbour where they were met at the dock by a doctor and a private ambulance.
“They got into an air pocket and the helicopter went into a tailspin. It recovered, and then it went into a tailspin again and from there it hit the ground. The tail came off and the cabin just went into a spin and somebody got thrown out,” one employee was quoted as saying.
Minister of Transport and Aviation, Glenys Hanna-Martin, said the Flight Standard Inspectorate will be launching a full investigation into the crash. This team, she said, will be dispatched to Guana Cay as “soon as possible”.
Mrs Hanna-Martin also added that their investigation will include talks with the manufacturers of the helicopter’s engines.
Representatives from the Royal Bahamas Police Force have been dispatched to the island.
http://www.tribune242.com
NASSAU, Bahamas (CBSMiami/AP) – Jeffrey Soffer, the owner of Miami’s famous Fontainebleau hotel, was one of three survivors in a deadly helicopter crash in The Bahamas.
The crash took place Thursday morning in Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club, an upscale resort on Great Guana Cay, according to North Abaco parliamentarian Renardo Curry.
One American died and three others were injured in the accident at the millionaires playground, located about 150 miles off Florida’s eastern coast.
According to former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, those hurt did not appear to have life-threatening injuries. However, a Nassau television manager said he could confirm two were in critical condition.
Curry said the helicopter was attempting to land at Baker’s Bay when a wind gust sent the aircraft spiraling.
Police have not released the identities of the passengers or other details regarding the crash.
The Associated Press contributed material for this report.
NASSAU, Bahamas -- A helicopter crashed early Thursday in an upscale Bahamas resort community, killing one U.S. citizen and injuring four others, police reported.
Abaco Police Superintendent Noel Curry said all five passengers were Americans, but he could not confirm the identities or genders of the dead person or the four survivors. He also said he could not immediately comment on the extent of the survivors' injuries.
A Florida television station, CBS Miami, identified one of the survivors as Jeffrey Soffer, principal of Florida-based real estate developer Turnberry Associates.
Renardo Curry, Parliament member for North Abaco, said the helicopter was attempting to land at the exclusive Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club on Great Guana Cay when a wind gust sent the aircraft spiraling.
An employee of the resort community told The Associated Press that he helped residents pull people out of the wreckage. He described the crash as a "nightmare."
"They got into an air pocket and it went into a tailspin. It recovered, and then it went into a tailspin again and from there it hit the ground. The tail came off and the cabin just went into a spin and somebody got thrown out," said the Baker's Bay employee, who insisted on not being quoted by name because he wasn't authorized to speak with journalists.
Baker's Bay is a playground for millionaires located about 150 miles off Florida's eastern coast. It includes an oceanfront golf course, a private family beach club and boutique shops.
There were roughly 180 people on the island property for Thanksgiving festivities, the resort employee said.
"Everyone who was there in one way or another helped out," said Curry, the police superintendent.
http://www.miamiherald.com
North Abaco parliamentarian Renardo Curry says at least four Americans were on the helicopter when it crashed Thursday morning in Baker's Bay Golf & Ocean Club on Great Guana Cay.
Police have not released the identities of the passengers or other details about the crash.
Curry says the helicopter was attempting to land at Baker's Bay when a wind gust sent the aircraft spiraling.
Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham says one passenger died and three survivors are being treated at a clinic. He says their injuries are apparently not life threatening.
Baker's Bay is a playground for millionaires located about 150 miles off Florida's eastern coast.
Source: http://www.wgme.com
At least one person is dead, and four others seriously injured after a helicopter crashed in North Abaco shortly after 2pm today.
According to initial reports, the occupants were on their way to the Baker's Bay Golf and Ocean Club when the incident occurred.
They had reportedly just arrived in Abaco on a private jet and were being shuttled in the helicopter to the luxury resort.
http://www.tribune242.com
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