On October 25, 1991, a

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progra ...

carrying rock music

concert promoter Tour promoters (also known as concert promoters or talent buyers) are the individuals or companies responsible for organizing a live concert tour or special event performance. The tour promoter makes an offer of engagement to a particular artist, ...

Bill Graham, his girlfriend Melissa Gold, and pilot Steve Kahn crashed into a

transmission tower A transmission tower, also known as an electricity pylon or simply a pylon in British English and as a hydro tower in Canadian English, is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. In electrical gri ...

west of

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to the ...

, killing everyone on board. The cause of the accident was determined to be the pilot's intentional flight into known adverse weather conditions.

Accident

The Bell 206B JetRanger was operating under

Federal Aviation Regulation The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). A wide variety o ...

Part 91, and departed from parking lot "F" of the

Concord Pavilion Concord Pavilion (formerly known as Sleep Train Pavilion and Chronicle Pavilion) is an amphitheatre located in Concord, California. It is owned by the City of Concord and operated by Live Nation. The Pavilion has a capacity of 12,500 people and op ...

around 9:45 pm, bound for the Commodore Center Heliport (KJMC) in

Sausalito, California Sausalito (Spanish language, Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, California, Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, California ...

, about to the west-southwest. The pilot had received a weather briefing in which

visual flight rules In aviation, visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see where the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better ...

(VFR) flight was not recommended due to inclement weather. Before take-off, the pilot requested and received a special VFR clearance to pass through the airspace of

Buchanan Field Airport Buchanan Field Airport is a public airport in Contra Costa County, California, United States, a mile west of the center of Concord and east of Pacheco. The airport's street address is 550 Sally Ride Drive, Concord. The National Plan of Integra ...

on a northwest heading. When the helicopter lifted off, the weather was visibility, gusty winds, heavy rain, and overcast with a

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...

. Using

pilotage Piloting or pilotage is the process of navigating on water or in the air using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or air ...

to navigate from one landmark to another at an altitude just below the cloud base, the pilot proceeded through the city of Vallejo and began following

California State Route 37 State Route 37 (SR 37) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay. It serves as a vital connection in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, running from U.S. Route 101 in ...

. At 9:56 pm near the northernmost point of

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water ch ...

, the Bell 206B struck the top of a high-voltage transmission tower, located roughly south of Rt. 37, and became impaled on it. The aircraft exploded on impact and all three occupants suffered fatal injuries.

Aircraft and crew

The Bell 206B JetRanger registration number N3456M and serial number 1391, had an airframe total time of 6,279 hours and its last inspection was on September 9, 1991, seven logged hours before the accident. The pilot was 42-year-old Steve Kahn, who held valid

airline transport An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

, and commercial certificates, with 4,541 total

flight hours Flight hours is an aviation term referring to the total amount of time spent piloting aircraft, and serves as the primary measure of a pilot's experience. Flight hours (or flight time) is defined as "when an aircraft moves under its own power for ...

logged.

Aftermath

The helicopter became

welded Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as braz ...

to the tower and a large crane was required to remove and lower it to the ground. The JetRanger was written off as damaged beyond repair. A music concert at the Concord Pavilion was interrupted for a time due to a power surge, and 23,000 homes were left without power until morning. A section of Rt. 37 was closed for days afterward, and the tower was later repaired.

Investigation

The aircraft had to be left hanging from the tower until investigators from the

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

(NTSB) could examine it. The inquiry found the pilot had considerable geographic knowledge of the area and decided to fly VFR when conditions would indicate use of

instrument flight rules In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

(IFR). Witnesses saw the helicopter flying parallel to Rt. 37 at about

altitude above ground level In aviation, atmospheric sciences and broadcasting, a height above ground level (AGL or HAGL) is a height measured with respect to the underlying ground surface. This is as opposed to height above mean sea level (AMSL or HAMSL), height above elli ...

and then explode as it collided with the tower. The area sectional chart clearly showed the location and height of the high-voltage tower. The NTSB's final conclusion was: "The pilot's intentional flight into known adverse weather, continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and improper altitude. Contributing to the accident were low ceilings, poor

visibility The visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. In meteorology it depends on the transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the ambient light level or time of ...

, and restricted visual lookout." Bill Graham helicopter crash site

References

External links