- Date
- June 30, 1983, 12:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Gastonia, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8835FHughes 269A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830630027589A
- Case key
- 6106
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While en route at 500 ft AGL, the eng suddenly lost power & went to idle RPM. During an autorotation to the side of a highway, the acft was maneuvered over a power line, then under another line. After touchdown, the helicopter slid into some bushes & a small tree. The plt reported that there was no suitable place to land except along the highway. The threads in the end of the throttle control cable assembly were stripped. This allowed the eng to go to idle RPM. The cable, pn 267A-4683-3, had accumulated 770 hrs since installation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8835F
- Reported as
- Hughes 269A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0198
- Airframe hours
- 1,376
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-B1A, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- North Carolina Helicopters Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 8, 1982 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- 0A6 · Gastonia, NC
- Destination
- Charlotte, NC
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 54
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 844 total · 844 in this make and model · 795 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HKY, 6 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N8835F · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.