Sikorsky S76A++ERA Aviation, Inc.
Gulf of Mexico, USA · 2004-03-23·N579EH
What happened
NTSB summary, verbatimThe Safety Board's full report is avialable at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-06/02. 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 Board's determinationthe flight crew's failure to identify and arrest the helicopter's descent for undetermined reasons, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
Safety recommendations
5 issuedwhat changed because of this accidentTO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require all existing and new U.S.-registered turbine-powered rotorcraft certificated for six or more passenger seats to be equipped with a terrain awareness and warning system.
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Ensure that all operators of helicopters equipped with either the SPZ-7000 or SPZ-7600 dual digital automatic flight control systems provide training that includes information on flight director and coupling status annunciations; the command cue presentations when only the pitch or the roll mode is engaged; and, if applicable, the differences between the SPZ-7000 and the SPZ-7600.
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Ensure that the infrastructure for the National Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) Program in the Gulf of Mexico is operational by fiscal year 2010.
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Until the infrastructure for the National Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) Program in the Gulf of Mexico is fully operational, require principal operations inspectors of Gulf of Mexico aircraft operators to inform the operators about the benefits of commercial flight-tracking systems and encourage the operators to acquire such systems.
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require all operators of aircraft equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR) to (1) test the functionality of the CVR before the first flight of each day as part of an approved aircraft checklist and (2) perform a periodic maintenance check of the CVR as part of an approved maintenance check of the aircraft. The CVR preflight test should be performed according to procedures provided by the CVR manufacturer and should include listening to the recorded signals on each channel to verify that the audio is being recorded properly, is intelligible, and is free from electrical noise or other interference. The periodic maintenance check of the CVR should include an audio test followed by a download and review of each channel of recorded audio. The downloaded recording should be checked for overall audio quality, CVR functionality, and intelligibility. (Supersedes Safety Recommendation A-02-025)
NTSB analysis
from the final reportThe Safety Board's full report is avialable at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-06/02. 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.