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El Aero Services Bell 206B3 accident

3 Apr 1994 · LAMOILLE, NV, United States

Bell 206B3 · Accident: loss of engine power while maneuvering

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Event

NTSB case
SEA94FA096
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
4 · 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
Charter & commuter
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Unknown

Bell 206B3

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
N27736
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 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
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
Maneuvering
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
Loss of engine power
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Miscellaneous, engine › Foreign material/substance

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

NTSB narrative

THE HELICOPTER (HEL) WAS LANDED AT A REMOTE SITE DUE TO POOR WEATHER. AFTER LANDING, SNOW FELL & ACCUMULATED ON THE AIRFRAME. NO EXTERNAL ENGINE SNOW COVERS WERE AVAILABLE. THE AIR INDUCTION SYSTEM HAD SNOW BAFFLES & PARTICLE SEPARATORS, BUT THE ENGINE WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH AN (OPTIONAL) AUTO RE-LIGHT IGNITION SYSTEM. THE PLENUM AT THE ENGINE INTAKE WAS INACCESSIBLE TO THE PILOT FOR REMOVAL OF ANY SNOW THAT MAY HAVE ACCUMULATED. ABOUT 1 HR AFTER LANDING, HE RESTARTED THE ENGINE & RAN IT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MIN. AFTER ABOUT ANOTHER HOUR, HE RESTARTED THE ENGINE AGAIN & RAN IT ABOUT 5 MIN. AFTER DISCUSSING SITUATION WITH DIR OF OPS BY RADIO, HE THEN TOOK OFF WITH A GROSS WEIGHT & DENSITY ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 2940 LBS & 7000', RESPECTIVELY. SHORTLY AFTER LIFT-OFF, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. DURING AN AUTOROTATION, THE HEL IMPACTED ON A 30 DEG SLOPE & ROLLED OVER. THE FLIGHT MANUAL (F/M) SHOWED THAT AT 2940 LBS, THE MAXIMUM DENSITY ALTITUDE FOR A SAFE AUTOROTATIVE LANDING WAS 2500'. THE F/M LIMITED HOVER FLIGHT IN FALLING AND/OR BLOWING SNOW TO A DURATION OF 20 MIN, AFTER WHICH THE HEL MUST BE LANDED & CHECKED FOR SNOW AND/OR ICE ACCUMULATION. HOWEVER, GROUND OPERATION IN THESE CONDITIONS WAS NOT ADDRESSED. TESTS OF SNOW/ICE INGESTION IN AN EARLIER MODEL OF THE SAME ENGINE (ALLISON 250-C18) RESULTED IN FLAMEOUTS WITH SLUGS OF SNOW THAT WERE AS LITTLE AS 30 GRAMS.

Probable cause

THE INGESTION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL (SNOW) IN THE ENGINE, WHICH RESULTED IN A FLAMEOUT (LOSS OF ENGINE POWER). FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS (SNOW FALLING & HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE), THE LACK OF SNOW COVERS TO PROTECT THE ENGINE INTAKES WHILE PARKED AND AWAITING FOR THE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO IMPROVE, IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT AND THE COMPANY/OPERATOR MANAGEMENT, INADEQUATE INFORMATION IN THE FLIGHT MANUAL, AND THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR AN EMERGENCY LANDING.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record SEA94FA096
Event ID
20001206X01169
Case number
SEA94FA096
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: e16dcb164641771dc1c749ac9d0364fb90ff0a783a6fcf418d6d5d46951982b0; retrieved 2026-09-18T13:49:40.913Z.