N611BC

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On March 3, 2000, at about 1529 eastern standard time, a McDonnell Douglas HU-600N, N611BC, registered to General Electric Capital Corporation, operated by WTVJ NBC 6, as a 14 CFR Part 91 photography flight, crashed in a residential area while maneuvering in the vicinity of Miami, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The helicopter was destroyed by a post crash fire. The airline transport pilot and news photographer were fatally injured. The flight originated from Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (TMB), Miami, Florida, about 26 minutes before the accident.

Friends of the pilot who were flying in another helicopter (N97UP) stated N611BC (Sky 6) was inbound to TMB when they talked to him on an air to air frequency. They got a visual location on each other and N611BC made a 180-degree turn, passed below them, and then joined up on their right side with about 300 yards separation in straight and level flight. They talked for a while and then Sky 6 departed. The pilot of N97UP observed Sky 6 initiate a descent which he estimated to be about a 15-degree nose-down attitude. His passenger estimated the descent at about a 45-degree nose-down attitude. The pilot observed the nose pull up to about a 30-degree nose-up attitude, and then pitched up about 70-degrees. The passenger stated the nose pulled up to an attitude past the 90-degree point. The helicopter yawed to the left, held there and appeared to be sliding backwards. The nose started to pitch down and the tail boom assembly separated. The helicopter descended and collided with the terrain.

Witnesses on the ground who observed the accident stated they observed both helicopters in straight and level flight. The accident helicopter nose pitched down and then pitched up to an almost vertical nose-up attitude. The helicopter yawed to the left, started to descend backwards, the nose pitched down and the tail boom separated. The helicopter started rotating to the right until it disappeared from their view. Black smoke was then observed coming from the ground up.

A helicopter pilot for channel 10 television was dispatched to cover the same bus/train accident as Sky 6. He contacted Miami tower to get authorization to enter into class "B" airspace and was informed that Sky 6 was over the scene. He attempted to locate Sky 6 visually but was unable to do so. He asked his cameraman to see if he could locate him with his equipment which was successful. He then informed Miami tower that he had Sky 6 in sight. He continued to monitor the Miami tower frequency and the VHF radio air-to-air frequency (123.025.) He subsequently heard Sky 6 inform Miami tower that he was clear of the area. A short time later he heard the Sky 6 pilot talking on the air-to-air frequency with another pilot. Based on their conversation he figured that they knew each other. He overheard the pilot of Sky 6 tell the other pilot to keep flying east bound. At about 1530, he heard the pilot of Sky 6 state, "watch this." There were no other communications heard between Sky 6 and the other pilot. The Sky 10 pilot stated he completed his mission over the bus/train accident and informed Miami tower that he was returning to TMB. He turned towards TMB and observed smoke. He thought it was a brush fire, and then he noticed that it was black smoke, and knew it had to be a house or vehicle fire of some sort. He headed towards the smoke. Upon arrival his cameraman informed him that it was a helicopter. He contacted the flight coordinator on frequency 123.025, and asked him to check on the status of their aircraft. The coordinator asked him what he thought had happened. He asked the coordinator if he had heard anything, and the coordinator replied, "watch this."

A friend of the deceased Sky 6 pilot stated that he had a conversation with the pilot during the first part of February 2000. The pilot described a maneuver that he had been performing in the Sky 6 Notar helicopter. The maneuver entailed a high speed pass down a runway followed by a steep pull-up. At the top of the pull-up, the Sky 6 pilot informed him that he would reverse the heading by 180-degrees, and then recover from the ensuing dive similar to a hammerhead turn in a fixed wing aircraft. He also stated that the control forces during the recovery from the maneuver were extremely high.

Two helicopter pilot's for different local area television stations stated the deceased pilot would normally arrive on a news scene and would stop the Sky 6 helicopter by conducting a cyclic climb maneuver. He would pitch the nose of the helicopter up to about a 45 degree angle or a near vertical nose-up attitude, and then bring the helicopter to a hover. He would normally be lower than the other helicopters on scene and would conduct high speed sideward flight. When he would depart a news site, he would make a very nose low departure, and when he departed TMB he would fly down the taxiway between 30 to 40 feet and he would make a cyclic climb departure.

Cameramen from channel 6 and the employer of the deceased pilot did not substantiate all of the statements made by the 2 helicopter pilots from the other television stations. One cameramen stated 2 days before the accident he was standing in the main editing area at the TV station when the deceased photographer stated he would be flying with the deceased pilot on Friday March 3, 2000. The photographer stated he was concerned about flying with the deceased pilot because he was an aggressive pilot. He informed them that when they left TMB with the helicopter parked on a dolly that the pilot would initiate a steep high bank turn right after takeoff. He stated he did not mind the pilot doing it a couple of times, but after 7 or 8 times it became annoying. He also stated he discussed his displeasure of the maneuver with the pilot because he did not feel there was any need to be performing that type of maneuver.

An attorney who was receiving turbine instruction at TMB on the day of the accident stated he was walking out to the helicopter when he met his instructor pilot returning from a flight with another student. As they approached the helicopter the other pilot stated, "There he is in another one of those 60 degree banks!" The attorney stated, "I looked where he was looking (toward the NE of where we were walking) and saw Sky 6 on a heading of about 180 at an altitude of about 200 feet, again over the center of TMB. Just as Keith had said, Sky 6 was in a bank of at least 60 degrees. I could see the entire rotor head and most of the rotor disk. The bank was so steep that the disk was almost a perfect circle, and Sky 6 was dropping-losing altitude at a high rate of speed. It soon disappeared from view, blocked from our sight by buildings. My initial reaction was that it was too low to recover from such a high rate of descent and must have crashed. When there was no crash or explosion, however, I said something like "He is really hot dogging it!" My thought at the time was that the pilot must have a death wish, or he was perhaps demonstrating the capabilities of the aircraft to someone. However it struck me that 200 feet above the center of TMB was not a good place to demonstrate such a dangerous maneuver and wondered what the pilot was doing. At this point Jim said that he had seen Sky 6 earlier in the day performing some various maneuvers and that Sky 6, when he was standing near the FKC helicopters, passed very fast and very low over his head. He said something about "getting a haircut." I asked if Paul Barth was flying it and he said no, it was Ruben (something-the name did not stick in my mind). At that time or later he said that Ruben "was just back from Oregon" and was working for Paul Barth again....

After we returned from the Jet Ranger flight Todd and Jim and I were sitting in Jim's FKC office chatting when the phone rang with a call from one of Jim's friends who said that one of the news helicopters had crashed....Jim Billberry remarked that if Sky 6 had crashed it might have been caused by Ruben Rivera "rolling" or inverting Sky 6. He said something like "Ruben knows how to roll it, and he has done it before."

The instructor stated in a subsequent interview that the scuttle butt going on around the airport was that the deceased pilot had rolled or inverted Sky 6.

Review of recorded communications between Sky 6, Sky 10, N97UP, and Tamiami Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT), Local Control North, Miami ATCT, Local Control North, and Miami ATCT, Guard VHF Emergency position revealed that Sky 6 contacted and received clearance for an echo departure from TMB at 2003:45. At 2008:15, Sky 6 contacted Miami ATCT six miles south of the airport and was cleared into class "B" airspace. Sky 6 informed the controller that he would remain about 2 miles south of the airport. Sky 10 contacted Miami ATCT at 2016:32 off of TMB and informed the controller that he would be working south southwest of the airport. Sky 10 was cleared into class "B" airspace and was informed to look out for Sky 6. At 2019:13, Sky 10 informed Miami ATCT that he had Sky 6 in sight. At 2020:33, Sky 6 informed Miami ATCT that he was clear of the class "B" airspace. Miami ATCT informed Sky 6 that radar service was terminated, frequency change approved, and to squawk VFR. At 2024:06, N97UP contacted Tamiami ATCT and requested an echo departure. The request was approved, and N97UP was advised to use caution due to inbound traffic. At 2024:40, Sky 6 contacted Tamiami ATCT and informed the controller that he was 6 miles northeast, inbound for an echo arrival. Sky 6 was advised to proceed with caution that traffic was outbound on echo. The controller contacted N97UP and informs him of the inbound Sky 6 traffic. N97UP requested and received approval for a frequency change. At 2026:02, Sky 6 informed Tamiami ATCT that he was going to join up with N97UP on the outbound leg. At 2029:17, N...