20100910047179I

Incident · No damage

FAA incident report · Eurocopter EC135T2 · West Mifflin, PA · September 10, 2010

Date: September 10, 2010 · 19:00 local
Place: West Mifflin, PA
Airport: Allegheny County Airport
Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator: E3MA
Damage: No damage
Aircraft: N957ME
Reported as: Eurocopter EC135T2
Reported engine: Turbomeca ARRIUS
People aboard: 4
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s flight hours: 0 total0 in this make and model0 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.

Aircraft 957ME, an Eurocopter ECD-EC135 T2 twin turbine helicopter, made an emergency landing at Allegheny County Airport (kagc) following an uncommanded engine shutdown in cruise flight. Helicopter N957ME was enroute to a local pittsburgh hospital with a trauma patient onboard during the engine failure. The pilot made a successful single engine landing with no damage to the aircraft with the exception of a main rotor transmission over torque. Subsequent investigation revealed the drive gear shaft splines of the hydromechanical unit (hmu) of the turbomeca arrius engine model 2B2 were found to be excessively worn effectuating the loss in fuel pressure and engine failure.

As the FAA filed it

AIRCRAFT 957ME, AN EUROCOPTER ECD-EC135 T2 TWIN TURBINE HELICOPTER, MADE AN EMERGENCY LANDING AT ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT (KAGC) FOLLOWING AN UNCOMMANDED ENGINE SHUTDOWN IN CRUISE FLIGHT. HELICOPTER N957ME WAS ENROUTE TO A LOCAL PITTSBURGH HOSPITAL WITH A TRAUMA PATIENT ONBOARD DURING THE ENGINE FAILURE. THE PILOT MADE A SUCCESSFUL SINGLE ENGINE LANDING WITH NO DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A MAIN ROTOR TRANSMISSION OVER TORQUE. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE DRIVE GEAR SHAFT SPLINES OF THE HYDROMECHANICAL UNIT (HMU) OF THE TURBOMECA ARRIUS ENGINE MODEL 2B2 WERE FOUND TO BE EXCESSIVELY WORN EFFECTUATING THE LOSS IN FUEL PRESSURE AND ENGINE FAILURE.