Flight Details
The accident involved a commercial rated helicopter pilot with 6,562 hours of flight experience. The pilot was conducting a 114-nautical mile over water cross-country flight. During the flight, the pilot contacted his company's flight following and provided a normal position report, stating he was inbound on a Gulf of Mexico operation.
Approximately eight minutes later, the pilot again contacted flight following and changed his destination to another heliport, but did not provide a reason for the change. He also reported his estimated time of arrival and that he was 45 miles out from that destination.
Communications
At the helicopter's approximate time of arrival, another helicopter pilot monitoring a common VHF radio frequency overheard a mayday distress call. The monitoring pilot replied by asking for the accident pilot's location but received no response. Shortly thereafter, another mayday distress call was heard, followed by the words "going in the water." No further communications or reported distress calls occurred, and no eyewitnesses were reported.
Weather Conditions
A Convective SIGMET advisory was valid at the time of the accident. The SIGMET warned of embedded thunderstorms moving from 220 degrees at 25 knots, with tops above 45,000 feet. This advisory encompassed the area of the accident site. There was no report of the pilot obtaining any formal preflight weather briefing from a company, flight service station, DUATS, or WSI weather program before departure or en route.