From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
2006 Mercy Air Bell 412 crash
Aviation accident in the United States
Aviation accident in the United States
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | 2006 Mercy Air helicopter accident |
| Crash image | Mercy-412-N410MA-050228-02cr.jpg |
| Image caption | The accident aircraft, Mercy Air 2, departs Mojave, CA in February 2005 |
| Date | |
| Type | Crashed in fog |
| occurrence_type | Accident |
| Site | Cajon Pass, San Bernardino County, California |
| Destination | Southern California |
| Logistics Airport, | |
| Victorville, California. | |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| aircraft_type | Bell 412SP |
| Operator | Mercy Air Services, Inc. |
| Tail Number | N410MA |
| Crew | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Logistics Airport, Victorville, California. |
The 2006 Mercy Air helicopter accident occurred on December 10, 2006, about 17:55 Pacific Standard Time, when a Bell 412SP helicopter, call sign "Mercy Air 2" impacted mountainous terrain near Hesperia, California and the Cajon Pass. The commercial helicopter pilot and two medical crew members were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire.{{Cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929130926/http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20061220X01815&key=1 | archive-date = 2007-09-29
On July 30, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its probable-cause report on the accident. According to the NTSB, the probable cause of the crash was "the pilot's inadvertent encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and subsequent failure to maintain terrain clearance." The dark night conditions, fog, and mountainous terrain were ruled to be contributing factors.{{Cite web
Accident details
The Bell 412SP helicopter took off on a cross-country repositioning flight from Loma Linda University Medical Center (94CL), Loma Linda, California, at 17:42, with a planned destination of Southern California Logistics Airport (VCV), Victorville, California. Mercy Air 2 had transported a woman injured in a horse-riding accident in Phelan, California,{{cite news |access-date=2007-06-20 |archive-date=2007-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127220234/http://www.jems.com/safety/articles/244592/ |url-status=dead to Loma Linda, and was returning to its assigned base at the time of the accident, with only the pilot and two medical crew members on board. LifeNet, Inc., doing business as Mercy Air Service, Inc., was operating the helicopter under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. An FAA representative stated the helicopter was being operated under visual flight rules and was not being handled by air traffic control, a practice he called "perfectly normal."{{cite news|url=http://www.firerescue1.com/news/244567/
At 18:00, the San Bernardino County Fire Department dispatch center started to receive numerous calls of an object falling from the sky, an explosion, and fire northeast of Interstate 15 in the area of Oak Hills. The first fire department responders to the accident site reported that the area was covered by intermittent waves of fog, which made locating the wreckage difficult.
The accident site was located on mountainous terrain on a 45° slope at an elevation of 4000 to above mean sea level, below a large electrical transmission tower, a little more than a mile east of I-15, and north of Highway 138. It is in a rural area with dirt roads, and no streetlights.{{cite news |access-date=2007-06-19 |archive-date=2007-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215609/http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_chopper11.39f5d0c.html |url-status=dead
First responders reported that upon their arrival, the scene was fully engulfed in fire. The postimpact fire consumed around 2 acre of mountainside, and made any reconstruction of the wreckage impossible. The first identified point of impact, a ground scar located next to the separated tail boom and the left skid, was near the base of the mountainous terrain, with the debris path emanating upslope. The debris path consisted of the tail boom, both skids, both engines, the main rotor assembly, and various other fuselage panels. The energy path was measured on a 155° bearing from the first identified impact point. No distress call was received from the aircraft.{{cite news
Weather information
Visual meteorological conditions predominantly prevailed along the route of flight, and a company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed. The Cajon Pass area is known for high wind, turbulence, and fog. Fog was heavy due to a marine layer that rolled in at 4000 ft and winds were said to be erratic.{{cite news |access-date = 2007-06-19 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928075013/http://archive.vvdailypress.com/news/20061213/medevac-rescues-risky-business-fatalities-double-questions-raised |archive-date = 2007-09-28 |url-status = dead
Reported weather conditions from VCV, 15 nmi northeast of the accident site, were visibility 10 smi; a broken cloud layer at 3800 ft, and an overcast cloud layer at 4900 ft; temperature 11 °C; dew point 3 °C; altimeter 30.17 inHg. Weather conditions at Ontario International Airport, Ontario, California, 19 nmi southwest of the accident site, were visibility 10 smi; a broken cloud layer at 3800 ft, and an overcast cloud layer at 5500 ft; temperature 13 °C; dew point 6 °C; altimeter 30.19 inHg.
GPS data
Mercy Air 2 was equipped with the OuterLink Automatic Flight Following System, a satellite-based tracking system that reports the helicopter's location to the ground base while it is in operation. The unit installed in the accident helicopter reported date, time, latitude, and longitude at 30 sec intervals. The installed system was capable of recording the altitude and airspeed, but Mercy Air had not yet installed the software upgrade required to make those parameters functional.
The NTSB investigator-in-charge reviewed the data from the Outerlink system. The satellite data indicated that the helicopter departed from 94CL and flew towards the Cajon Pass in a northwest direction. The flight path then followed the northbound Interstate 15 until it had almost reached the summit of the Cajon Pass. The global positioning system (GPS) tracked the helicopter as it continued toward the northeast, while the Interstate turned toward the north. The last known position of Mercy Air 2 was recorded at 17:55, and was 0.3 nmi northwest of the first identified impact point.
Accident histories
Company
Air Methods, Corp., the Colorado-based parent company of Mercy Air, is the largest emergency medical services helicopter operator in the United States, with a fleet of 208 medical transport helicopters at the time of this accident. Air Methods had, after this accident, a total of 19 accidents leading to the deaths of 21 people nationwide according to the NTSB's records.{{cite news |access-date=2007-06-19 |archive-date=2007-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927014925/http://www.knbc.com/news/10581778/detail.html |url-status=dead
Industry
The U.S. FAA estimates that 650 emergency medical helicopters are in operation in the United States.{{cite news |access-date = 2007-06-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927041208/http://www.emsresponder.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=4537 |archive-date = 2007-09-27 |url-status = dead In a 2006 NTSB special investigation report on the industry, the board reported emergency medical helicopter flight hours increased by 54% since 1991, but the rate of accidents per 100,000 flight hours increased 77%.{{cite news |access-date=2007-06-19 |archive-date=2007-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083215/http://www.pe.com/localnews/rialto/stories/PE_News_Local_D_mercy12.3a9de9c.html#pop |url-status=dead
References
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 2006 Mercy Air Bell 412 crash — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report