Preliminary Report: LongRanger Gulf crash fatal

Bell 206L-1 LongRanger, Venice, La., Dec. 29, 2007–One of the passengers of the Air Logistics LongRanger was killed and the pilot and the two other passengers injured when the helicopter crashed after a loss of control in the Gulf of Mexico. The helicopter was on approach to an offshore platform, and the pilot reported encountering a “sloping cloud deck.” As he slowed to between 20 and 25 knots in a left turn to final approach, he encountered a tailwind. When the helicopter appeared to be settling, he reduced the bank angle. The helicopter started vibrating and shaking. The pilot added forward cyclic and increased power. The vibration and shaking became worse and the pilot recognized a settling-with-power event. He was too low to recover.