Bell 407 - NO SERIES N311RL accident near South Timbalier 127

Probable cause

The pilot's lack of awareness of the severity of the gusting winds, which led to the helicopter being pushed off of the oil platform by a wind gust during engine start. Contributing to the accident was the unavailability of a nearby weather monitoring system.

NTSB analysis

The commercial pilot reported that he had landed the helicopter on the oil platform about 1 hour before the accident. He noted that the weather conditions were deteriorating west and north of the platform; he then decided to depart the platform, which did not have any weather monitoring systems installed. He had initiated the start sequence when a strong wind gust struck the platform and pushed the helicopter off of the raised helideck into the water. Witness reports corroborated the pilot's account, and two of the witnesses reported that the helicopter blades were turning but had not yet reached flight idle speed. If a weather monitoring system had been available, the pilot might have decided not to depart the platform given the gusting wind conditions.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN15LA288 for the full record.