Accident Details
The accident involved one of two helicopters on a cross-country positioning flight. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the departure airport, but the flight crews encountered low ceilings at the destination. They elected to continue westward over water in an attempt to find a break in the overcast.
Sequence of Events
A passenger in the non-accident helicopter reported that the pilots of both aircraft maintained continuous communication. As weather deteriorated, the pilot of the non-accident helicopter stated, "I'm going to go through it" followed by "stay right behind me." The accident helicopter pilot agreed. When the lead helicopter entered fog, the accident helicopter was behind and above. The accident pilot radioed asking, "How fast are you descending?" The response was "very slow." Approximately 30 seconds later, the lead pilot said, "Go back up... it's too low. It's much lower than we thought. Go back up right now." Radio contact with the accident helicopter was subsequently lost.
Wreckage and Environmental Conditions
About 15 minutes later, two orange life vests and miscellaneous debris were found floating about one mile offshore. The hourly METAR at the destination airport reported visibility of 5 miles in mist and overcast clouds at 400 feet. Search and rescue personnel reported weather at the accident location as visibility 1 mile, overcast ceiling at 100 feet, and northwest winds at 10 knots.