From the NTSB:
On March 3, 2008, about 1120 Peruvian local time, a Bell 412EP, N417EV, owned by Evergreen Helicopters, Incorporated, and operated by Helinka S.A.C., was destroyed when it impacted remote, mountainous terrain about 10 nautical miles west of Santa Cruz, Cajamarca, Peru. The United States certificated airline transport pilot, the Peruvian provisional co-pilot, and 10 passengers were fatally injured. Meteorological conditions at the time of the accident were unknown. The helicopter was operating on a company visual flight rules flight plan under Peruvian flight regulations.
Odd that we never heard any more about this. Even the usually sharp PPruner's never questioned the description of a 412B which obviously does not exist. At least the NTSB report cleared that up.
What would meteorological conditions have to do with this accident? Evergreen is a reputable operator with a qualified pilot system, flown by two instrument rated pilots, the 412EP has plenty of power with the two D engines, and every gadget known to man cluttering a fully-IFR instrument panel.
Was EGPWS installed? I even see it installed in offshore aircraft that hardly benefit from it, but flying in mountainous areas it should be a no-brainer. Even if it was a VFR operation, surely the pilots/aircraft should have been sufficiently equipped to survive the occasional inadvertent IFR exposure. Any sign of a mechanical problem?
The strangest thing is that nobody else is wondering about this one.
Malabo