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MIA93GA154 · Sikorsky UH-60A

14 Jul 1993 · HORTENSE, GA, United States

U.S. Customs Service Sikorsky UH-60A · Accident: in flight collision with object while maneuvering

From Brunswick Golden Isles Airport (BQK) to an unrecorded destination

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Event

NTSB case
MIA93GA154
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
Government
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

Sikorsky UH-60A

Aircraft type
Sikorsky UH-60
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
USA
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Brunswick Golden Isles Airport (BQK), Brunswick, GATo 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
Public Aircraft
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
In flight collision with object
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Wire, transmission
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

  • Copilot/second pilot › Altitude, inadequate
  • Copilot/second pilot › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Supervision, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate

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

NTSB narrative

THE HELICOPTER WAS REGISTERED TO THE U.S. ARMY AND BEING OPERATED BY THE U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE. A WITNESS LOCATED ABOUT 5 MI SOUTH OF THE ACCIDENT SITE STATED HE HEARD A HELICOPTER FLY OVERHEAD TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST, UP THE ALTAMAHA RIVER, AT ABOUT 1030. THE HELICOPTER WAS TRAVELING FASTER THAN MOST HELICOPTERS, AND WAS FLYING VERY LOW AT TREETOP LEVEL. A POWER OUTAGE OCCURRED AT 1033. THE HELICOPTER HAD COLLIDED WITH UNMARKED WIRES 82 FT ABOVE THE RIVER. THE PIC DID NOT COMPLETE A RISK ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET FOR THE ASSIGNED MISSION NOR WAS IT APPROVED BY THE APPROVING AUTHORITY. THE COPILOT'S INJURIES WERE CONSISTENT WITH BEING ON THE FLIGHT CONTROLS AT THE TIME OF IMPACT.

Probable cause

THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S INADEQUATE SUPERVISION OF THE FLIGHT, THE CO-PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN AN ADEQUATE ALTITUDE, AND THE FAILURE OF BOTH PILOTS TO SEE AND AVOID THE WIRES. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PREPARATION AND PLANNING OF THE ROUTE OF FLIGHT.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA93GA154
Event ID
20001211X12978
Case number
MIA93GA154
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: 314499714438dce2fac5d7116580f40b19523e7427d2927fe62e8b5580908a86; retrieved 2026-09-18T14:37:38.334Z.