Circumstances
During a dark night, a single-engine helicopter conducting a CFR Part 135 cargo offshore flight over the Gulf of Mexico did not reach the destination platform. As of April 2002, the commercial pilot and the helicopter are missing. The pilot is presumed fatal, and the aircraft is presumed destroyed.
Search and Weather
Multiple air and surface searches covered in excess of 7,000 square miles, but no wreckage or debris was recovered. Search efforts were hampered by weather conditions including 8 to 10 foot seas, wind from 25 to 44 knots, thunderstorms, rain, fog, and visibilities between 0 and 3 miles with a cloud ceiling ranging from 200 to 600 feet.
Pilot Information
The 61-year-old pilot had accumulated over 15,000 flight hours. He flew 950.6 hours in the previous calendar year, 298.7 hours in the previous quarter, and 108.4 hours in the current month. The pilot's flight/duty day began at 0800, and he had accumulated 7 flight hours prior to his last communication with dispatch.
Aircraft Information
The helicopter was equipped with fixed floats; however, aside from the pilot's life vest, there was no overwater survival equipment aboard the helicopter. The helicopter was neither equipped nor certified for flight in IMC. A GPS and a telephone were installed. Total airframe time was 17,843.6 hours with 28.5 hours accumulated since the last continuous airworthiness inspection. The meteorological conditions probably existing near the destination platform were: cloud bases near 700 feet, flight visibility 0 in the clouds and near 3 miles below the lowest cloud base, light turbulence below 5,000 feet, and winds southerly at 22 to 29 knots.