User:Wikip rhyre/2009 Gulf of Mexico ERA Aviation helicopter crash

Accident history
A Sikorsky S-76A++ helicopter en route from Scholes International Airport at Galveston to the oil drilling ship Discoverer Spirit crashed over the Gulf of Mexico. Both pilots and all passengers were lost.

The NTSB investigation of the accident was conducted. The investigation was significantly hampered by two factors. A major factor was the lack of a flight data recorder, attributed to relaxed FAA regulation for this aircraft. The second limitation was poor audio quality from the CVR (cockpit voice recorder), attributed to recent maintenance which did not reset the CVR to an appropriate configuration.

Findings
The probable cause of the accident was the flight crew’s failure to identify and arrest the helicopter’s descent for undetermined reasons, which resulted in controlled flight into the Gulf of Mexico.

Recommendations
The NTSB issued two new directives, A-06-17 and A-06-18, which require broader deployment of flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorders. The FAA had granted an exemption from flight data recorder requirements to this class of helicopter.

Additional recommendations include deployment of ADS-B in the Gulf of Mexico.