San Juan Bell 407 crash
Aeronautics Directorate of San Juan Province Bell 407 · Pilot disorientation caused by a dust cloud
From San Agustín, Valle Fértil, Argentina to San Juan, Argentina
Event
- 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
- Event fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 3
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 3
- 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
Bell 407
- Aircraft type
- Bell 407
- Category
- Helicopter · from aircraft type
- 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
- LQ-BHT
- Onboard fatalities
- 1
- Route
- From San Agustín, Valle Fértil, ArgentinaTo San Juan, Argentina
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Psychological
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Villa San Agustín, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The San Juan Bell-407 crash was an aviation accident that occurred on 11 October 2013 at 15:30 (local time), when a Bell 407, registration LQ-BHT, operated by the Aeronautics Directorate of the Argentine province of San Juan, plunged to the ground in Valle Fértil Department. On board, in addition to the pilot Aníbal Touris, were the governor of the province, José Luis Gioja, the secretary of the Governorship Unit, Héctor Pérez, and the national deputies Daniel Tomas and Margarita Ferrá de Bartol. The governor suffered haemorrhaging in the chest and abdomen, and Tomas, Pérez and Touris suffered multiple fractures and injuries, while Ferrá de Bartol died as a result of the accident.
Investigation and cause
Causes
The Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Board (JIAAC) published, following an investigation, a report dealing with the causes of the accident. It stated that the aircraft's commander suffered spatial disorientation due to zero visibility produced by the cloud of earth resulting from the rotation of the rotor and the arid ground, and lost his heading until colliding with the high-voltage power line and then plunging to the ground.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the Spanish Wikipedia article “Accidente del Bell-407 de San Juan” (revision 158095505, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
Spanish Wikipedia article: Accidente del Bell-407 de San Juan
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 158095505 · 2024-02-10 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q15955375
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- es Wikipedia article "Accidente del Bell-407 de San Juan" (page 6026732, revision 158095505), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A helicopter of the provincial Aeronautics Directorate carrying the governor and officials: state transport by a government body. The article: "operated by the Aeronautics Directorate of the Argentine province of San Juan"
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Spanish Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.