History of Flight
On October 9, 2012, about 2003 eastern daylight time, a Bell 407, registration N108MF, operated by ACS Helicopters LLC., was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain in Coolbaugh Township, Pennsylvania. The airline transport pilot and one passenger were fatally injured, and one passenger was seriously injured. The corporate flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. Dark night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Westchester County Airport (HPN), White Plains, New York. The flight had last departed Elmira/Corning Regional Airport (ELM), Elmira, New York, about 1845.
According to recovered cockpit documentation and passenger interviews, the helicopter had operated several legs earlier in the day, including stops at Somerset Airport, Morristown Municipal Airport, Camden County Airport, and ELM. The surviving passenger reported that after takeoff from ELM, weather began to worsen. The pilot advised they would not make it to HPN and decided to divert to Pocono Mountains Municipal Airport (MPO). The passenger texted his wife that they were "3 miles/3 minutes" from MPO. He described the conditions as "misty and dusky." The crash occurred shortly thereafter.
A witness heard a helicopter sounding "extremely low" near Interstate 380 around 1945. A truck driver saw the helicopter flying "very low" (below 200 feet) under low fog, with all lights on. Visibility was described as "pea soup." A limousine driver waiting at HPN received a text at 1953 from a passenger instructing him to go to Morristown instead; the helicopter never arrived. A search was initiated, and the wreckage was discovered on October 10, 2012, at about 0230, in a heavily wooded area adjacent to I-380, approximately 1.3 miles northwest of MPO.
Personnel Information
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with airplane and rotorcraft ratings. He also flew as a first officer for American Airlines. He did not possess an instrument-helicopter rating. His most recent FAA first-class medical certificate application, dated June 1, 2012, reported 19,000 hours of total flight time. He had attended Bell 407 initial and refresher training, with approximately 400 hours of helicopter experience as of May 2012.
Aircraft Information
The helicopter was a single-engine Bell 407, manufactured in 2007, with a Rolls-Royce/Allison 250-C47B engine. It was equipped with a SAGEM Integrated Cockpit Display System and standby analog instruments. The helicopter was certificated for VFR day/night operations and was not certificated for IFR. Its most recent annual inspection was completed on August 3, 2012, and it had 837.3 total hours at the time of the accident.
Meteorological Information
Satellite imagery showed cloudy conditions with light rain. Surface temperatures were above freezing. Automated weather observations at MPO (1.3 miles southeast of the accident site) at 1953 reported: wind 120° at 6 knots, visibility 3/4 mile, light rain, mist, vertical visibility 200 feet. At 2003: wind 100° at 6 knots, visibility 1 1/4 miles, light rain, mist, overcast ceiling 200 feet. At 2017: visibility 1/2 mile, light rain, fog, vertical visibility 200 feet. Sunset occurred at 1829, end of civil twilight at 1857; moonrise was after midnight.
Flight Recorders
The helicopter was not equipped with a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder. A Garmin GNS 530 GPS receiver, Apollo SL40 radio, and an ICDS were recovered. The GNS 530 retained the last active frequency (120.1 MHz) and last known GPS position. The SL40 displayed frequencies of 125.47 MHz and 122.95 MHz. The ICDS contained dummy data cards. A Garmin Aera 560 portable GPS sustained major damage; chip-level recovery yielded 103 tracks, with the accident flight recording from 19:35:21 to 20:03:24. The last data point at 20:02:36 showed GPS altitude 2,162 feet and ground speed 31 knots, just before a right turn toward the accident site.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The helicopter came to rest approximately 200 feet from the right shoulder of southbound I-380, near 40-foot trees, at an elevation of about 1,930 feet. A large tree with broken upper limbs was nearby. The surrounding trees were 50 to 70 feet tall. No preimpact failures or malfunctions were found; all fractures were consistent with overload forces from impact with trees and terrain. The caution light panel showed no filament stretching; the standby attitude indicator had rotational scoring internally. The fuselage was crushed on the right side; the tailboom was fractured aft of the horizontal stabilizer. The landing gear exhibited overload fractures. Main rotor blades were extensively damaged from tree strikes. All four main rotor hub flexure arms were fractured from overload. The fuel tank was ruptured. No evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies was discovered.