20111201029769I

Incident · No damage

FAA incident report · Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 407 · Intercoastal Ci, LA · December 1, 2011

Date: December 1, 2011 · 10:00 local
Place: Intercoastal Ci, LA
Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules: Air taxi and commuter (Part 135)
Operator: HEEA
Damage: No damage
Aircraft: N435PH
NTSB investigation: NTSBCEN12IA096
Reported as: Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 407
Reported engine: Rolls-Royce 250-C47B
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0

N435PHRegistration cancelled Jan 9, 2014 · Bell Helicopter Textron Canada 407S/N 53891 · Built 2008 Airframe modelBell Helicopter Textron Canada 407 Engine modelRolls-Royce 250-C47BTurbo-shaft

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.

Helicopter took off from gulf of Mexico oil platform EC278-C enroute to EC261. The engine chip detector light illuminated followed by a loud whining noise followed by a loud popping noise and a large left yaw. Pilot made a successful auto-rotation water landing on the skid-floats with no damage to helicopter.

As the FAA filed it

HELICOPTER TOOK OFF FROM GULF OF MEXICO OIL PLATFORM EC278-C ENROUTE TO EC261. THE ENGINE CHIP DETECTOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED FOLLOWED BY A LOUD WHINING NOISE FOLLOWED BY A LOUD POPPING NOISE AND A LARGE LEFT YAW. PILOT MADE A SUCCESSFUL AUTO-ROTATION WATER LANDING ON THE SKID-FLOATS WITH NO DAMAGE TO HELICOPTER.

NTSB investigation

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

NTSB CEN12IA096Incident · No injuriesIncident investigationFinal reportGulf Of MexicoThe failure of the compressor section No. 2 bearing due to false brinnelling and fatigue.Dec 1, 2011 · No damage