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MIA94LA100 · Bell 206L

25 Mar 1994 · Orlando, FL, United States

Falcon Helicopter Service Bell 206L · Accident: airframe, component or system failure during initial climb

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Event

NTSB case
MIA94LA100
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Bell 206L

Aircraft type
Bell 206
Category
Helicopter
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N16705
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Initial climb
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Airframe, component or system failure
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Adequate rotor RPM, not maintained
  • Pilot in command › Remedial action, improper

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, USING WATER/ALCOHOL INJECTION, THE PILOT NOTED THE N2 TURBINE SPEED INDICATION WENT TO THE TOP OF THE GAUGE. HE ROLLED OFF THROTTLE TO REDUCE THE N2 GAUGE READING; AT THE SAME TIME, HE LOOKED FOR A PLACE TO LAND. THE PILOT BELIEVED THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT ALTITUDE FOR AN AUTOROTATION. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN HARD & CAME TO REST WITH EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. A POSTACCIDENT EXAM REVEALED NO PREIMPACT FAILURE OF THE AIRFRAME, FLIGHT CONTROLS, OR FUEL SYSTEM. TESTING OF THE WATER/ALCOHOL SOLUTION REVEALED 66.5% METHANOL & 33.5% WATER. SPECIFICATIONS REQUIRED 33.5% METHANOL & 66.5% WATER, BUT ALLISON ENGINE PERSONNEL SAID THE HIGH LEVEL OF METHANOL WOULD NOT HAVE AFFECTED ENGINE PERFORMANCE. DURING A POSTACCIDENT TEST, THE ENGINE OPERATED TO FULL POWER WITH NO EVIDENCE OF FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. TESTING OF THE ENGINE INSTRUMENTS REVEALED THE N2 GAUGE WAS PROVIDING A FAULTY INDICATION. THE OTHER ENGINE INSTRUMENTS OPERATED NORMALLY AFTER THE ACCIDENT.

Probable cause

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO CROSS-CHECK A FAULTY ENGINE SPEED INDICATION WITH OTHER ENGINE PERFORMANCE INDICATIONS TO VERIFY WHETHER AN ENGINE MALFUNCTION HAD ACTUALLY OCCURRED, AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ROTOR RPM DURING AN EMERGENCY LANDING. THE PILOT'S REACTION TO THE PERCEIVED ENGINE MALFUNCTION LED TO AN UNNECESSARY REDUCTION OF ENGINE POWER AND SUBSEQUENT EMERGENCY LANDING.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA94LA100
Event ID
20001206X00958
Case number
MIA94LA100
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 04e8d37d47f7e1e0fe2c187507240c098b7c1258179404b9c34a137cf27e68f6; retrieved 2026-09-21T14:02:51.896Z.