19941031048179A

Accident · Substantial damage

FAA accident report · Bell UH1E · Willits, CA · October 31, 1994

Date
October 31, 1994 · 16:30 local
Place
Willits, CA
Phase of flight
To Vertical (Helicopter Only)
Operating rules
Rotorcraft external load (Part 133)
Damage
Substantial damage
Aircraft
N5088J
NTSB investigation
NTSBLAX95LA030
Reported as
Bell UH1E
Reported engine
Lycoming T53L13B
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
16,585 total2,098 in this make and model200 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Dropped log. Began climbout. Tailrotor gear box hit a tree. Autorotated to hard landing.

As the FAA filed it

DROPPED LOG. BEGAN CLIMBOUT. TAILROTOR GEAR BOX HIT A TREE. AUTOROTATED TO HARD LANDING.

NTSB investigation

The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.