NTSB Identification: LAX00LA103.
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Accident occurred Monday, February 14, 2000 in PACIFIC OCEAN
Probable Cause Approval Date: 07/17/2001
Aircraft: Hughes 369HS, registration: N717ST
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.
NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.On the third flight of the day, at 100 feet after takeoff from the fishing vessel, the pilot reported that he felt a grinding sensation from the cyclic control followed by a loud bang. After making the precautionary landing, the helicopter was struck by an ocean swell, rolled over, and subsequently sank. The pilot and observer were rescued uninjured from the water by the fishing vessel. It was noted that the foreign pilot did not possess a U.S. flight certificate.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
An unknown mechanical malfunction that resulted in a precautionary landing at sea and the subsequent sinking of the helicopter by an ocean swell.
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