2006 Mercy Air Bell 412 crash
The 2006 Mercy Air helicopter accident occurred on December 10, 2006, about 17:55 Pacific Standard Time, when a Bell 412SP helicopter, call sign "Mercy Air 2" impacted mountainous terrain near Hesperia, California and the Cajon Pass. The commercial helicopter pilot and two medical crew members were killed, and the helicopter was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire.
The accident aircraft, Mercy Air 2, departs Mojave, CA in February 2005 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 10, 2006 |
| Summary | Crashed in fog |
| Site | Cajon Pass, San Bernardino County, California |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Bell 412SP |
| Operator | Mercy Air Services, Inc. |
| Registration | N410MA |
| Destination | Southern California Logistics Airport, Victorville, California. |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Survivors | 0 |
On July 30, 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its probable-cause report on the accident. According to the NTSB, the probable cause of the crash was "the pilot's inadvertent encounter with instrument meteorological conditions and subsequent failure to maintain terrain clearance." The dark night conditions, fog, and mountainous terrain were ruled to be contributing factors.