PHI Bell 206L-3 accident
Bell 206L-3 · Accident: loss of engine power (partial) during takeoff
From Main Pass 61A, GM to Main Pass 61A, GM
Event
- NTSB case
- CEN11LA252
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Bell 206L-3
- 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
- N32041
- Operator
- PHI
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Main Pass 61A, GMTo Main Pass 61A, GM
- 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
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe 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 (partial)
- 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
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
After the helicopter was refueled with the engine running, the pilot departed from an offshore oil platform. The pilot and the two passengers reported a loud bang just after the turboshaft-powered helicopter lifted off. The pilot immediately lowered the helicopter’s nose and entered an autorotation to the water below; as the helicopter descended, the pilot activated the helicopter’s float system. The floats inflated; however, the helicopter impacted the water and rolled inverted. Examination of the helicopter’s engine found no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. A review of data downloaded from the engine’s data monitoring system revealed a “spike” in the engine’s turbine outlet temperature and torque readings. The oil platform was venting un-ignited methane gas at the time the helicopter departed the platform. It is likely that the helicopter’s engine experienced a compressor stall due to ingesting the methane gas, and the pilot immediately reacted by initiating an autorotation.
Probable cause
The loss of engine power due to an engine compressor stall as a result of ingesting methane gas during takeoff.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CEN11LA252
- Event ID
- 20110329X54044
- Case number
- CEN11LA252
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
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, coordinates. 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: 622cd7d3d2d9abd26c76123f1021ab3206f3e0d14dc5000452b4f12cb84bffe7; retrieved 2026-09-15T15:59:11.169Z.