History of Flight
On September 3, 2015, at 1752 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a Hughes 369HS helicopter registered as N9068F was destroyed following a forced landing into the Pacific Ocean approximately 300 nautical miles east of Manra Island, Republic of Kiribati. The El Salvador-certificated pilot was fatally injured, and the passenger sustained serious injuries. The helicopter was operated by Whirlwide Helicopters Inc., based in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
The flight was a local aerial observation mission for fish spotting, conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from a tuna fishing vessel 35 minutes before the accident.
According to a written report from a representative of the operator, the helicopter descended and impacted the water, rolling upside-down. The passenger/spotter managed to exit the helicopter after noticing the pilot's life vest had deployed while the pilot was still inside and struggling to exit. The passenger saw the pilot stop moving but, due to his own injuries, could not assist him.
A nearby fishing vessel recovered both occupants; however, the helicopter sank and was not recovered. Shortly after rescue, the passenger—a Vietnamese national—told the fish master that "the helicopter went wrong in the air and started rolling over and fell into the water." The passenger was later transported to a hospital in Majuro, Marshall Islands, and was unavailable for further questioning.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a commercial helicopter pilot certificate issued by the Republic of El Salvador on May 20, 2004, and a first-class airman medical certificate issued on November 6, 2014, with the limitation requiring corrective lenses. His logbook was not recovered. The operator reported the pilot had 5,350 total flight hours, including 355 hours in the make and model. No personal flight records were available. The pilot did not hold a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration pilot certificate, which is required to operate a U.S.-registered aircraft in international airspace.
Medical and Pathological Information
The pilot's body was transported to Majuro for further processing. The investigation was unable to obtain results from any testing or examination of the pilot. Detailed postmortem information and the mechanism of injuries were not available.
The operator reported that flight crews are issued life vests, but some pilots preferred to use their own. The accident pilot had acquired his own vest, equipped with an auto-inflation activation system that would deploy when submerged underwater.