What happened
During a repositioning flight conducted in visual meteorological conditions, a helicopter disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico. The pilot did not transmit any distress calls prior to the disappearance.
The main wreckage was located two days after the accident, featuring approximately three feet of the tail boom still attached to the primary structure. The deformation observed on the wreckage suggested an uncontrolled impact with the water. Following the initial recovery, a middle section of the tail boom was found floating roughly 60 miles from the main wreckage site five days later. Fifty-eight days after the accident, the aft-most section of the tail boom was discovered washed up on a shoreline.
The pilot sustained 1 fatal injury. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be traumatic injury, with an acute occlusion to the left anterior descending coronary artery of the heart noted as a contributing factor.