1980 — Aug 6, Air Logistics helicopter crash with oil platform workers, off Houma, LA — 13

–13  NTSB. August 1980 Aviation Accidents. “NTSB Identification: FTW80FA100.”

–13  Planecrashinfo.com.  “1980. Accident Details. Air Logistics, Houma, LA…Aug 6, 1980.”

–13  UPI. “Hurricane Halts Search…” Cumberland Evening Times, MD, 8-9-1980, p1.[1]

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB File 3-2206:

Date:                           80/8/6

Location:                     Houma, LA

Aircraft Data:              Bell 205A-1, N95AL

Injuries:                       CR [crew] 1 F [fatality]…PX [passengers] 12 F…

Flight Purpose:            Commercial Air Taxi…

Departure Point:          Oil Platform SS-24

Intended Destination: Houma, LA

Type of Accident:       Collision with ground/water: uncontrolled…

Probable Cause(s):      Pilot in Command — continued VFR flight into adverse weather…

Pilot in Command — spatial disorientation

Factor(s):                     Pilot in Command — attempted operation w/known deficiencies in equipment….

Weather — thunderstorm activity

….

“Remarks — company plt stated N95AL had no windshield wipers, unreliable attitude indicator & inop [inoperable] turn needle.” (NTSB. August 1980 Aviation Accidents. “NTSB Identification: FTW80FA100.”)

 

Planecrashinfo.com Accident Details:

Date:               August 06, 1980

Time:               17:40

Location:         Houma, Louisiana

Operator:         Air Logistics

….

Route:             Oil Platform SS-24 — Houma LA

AC Type:         Bell 205A-1 helicopter

Registration N95AL

….

Aboard            :           13 (passengers: 12  crew 1)

Fatalities:         13 (passengers: 12  crew 1)

….

“Summary: Crashed after continued VFR flight into adverse weather conditions. No windshield wipers, unreliable attitude indicator and inoperative turn needle.”  (Planecrashinfo.com.)

 

Newspaper

 

Aug 7, Associated Press:  “New Orleans (AP) – Two men were sighted in the Gulf of Mexico today near the wreckage of a helicopter that was evacuating 13 oil rig workers in the advance of Hurricane Allen, the Coast Guard said.  “They’ve found the wreckage of the helicopter but we don’t know if they are dead or alive,” said Coast Guard spokesman Joe Gibson. The Coast Guard said a civilian boat found the wreckage about 60 miles southwest of Houma, La. The Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co. said the pilot and five of its employees were aboard the helicopter, along with seven workers from various offshore services companies….ODECO spokesman Al Spindler said the helicopter picked up the last men from a company oil production platform about 90 miles southwest of Houma and was headed to shore when it disappeared.”  (Paris News (TX). “Two Sighted Near Helicopter Wreckage,” Aug 7, 1980, 4.

 

Aug 9: “Houma, La. (UPI) — Rough seas stirred by Hurricane Allen has forced the Coast Guard to halt its search for nine people missing since their private helicopter crashed during an evacuation from a Gulf of Mexico oil platform. Four bodies, clad in life preservers, were found Thursday [Aug 7] about 60 miles southwest of Houma, but rescue workers were unable to locate nine other men who were aboard the Bell 205 helicopters.

 

“Officials said the scattered debris found from the wreck, including parts of the nose and an auxiliary fuel tank, were relatively small, indicating other survivors were unlikely. ‘We’ve suspended out search pending further developments,’ Coast Guard spokesman Joe Gibson said Friday. ‘We’ve searched long enough that we’re reasonably sure we’re not going to find anybody alive.’

 

“Al Spindler, a spokesman for Ocean Drilling and Exploration Co. Inc. that owned the rig, said the company would resume its private search as soon as the seas returned to normal. ‘It is ODECO’s intention to resume the search with the help of Air Logistics (helicopter firm) as soon as conditions make that possible,’ Spindler said. ‘It won’t be (resumed) today or tomorrow’.” (UPI. “Hurricane Halts Search for People.” Cumberland Evening Times, MD, 8-9-1980, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

National Transportation Safety Board. August 1980 Aviation Accidents. “NTSB Identification: FTW80FA100.” Accessed 6-24-2017 at: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=30618&key=0

 

Planecrashinfo.com. “1980. Accident Details. Air Logistics, Houma, LA…Aug 6, 1980.”  Accessed 6-24-2017 at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1980/1980-40.htm

 

UPI. “Hurricane Halts Search for People.” Cumberland Evening Times, MD, 8-9-1980, p. 1. Accessed 6-24-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/cumberland-evening-times-aug-09-1980-p-1/?tag

 

Valley Independent, Monessen, PA. “Gulf Area Braces.” 8-8-1980, p. 1. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=29106772

 

[1] Four bodies recovered and nine missing and presumed lost; U.S. Coast Guard search suspended.