- Date
- December 10, 1986, 14:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Charlotte, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N58188Hughes 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19861210071579A
- Case key
- 7357
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 flying at 300' to 500' AGL on a cable patrol flt, the plt heard a loud loise. The rotor RPM started to decay & the eng RPM increased sharply. The plt initiated an autorotation to a parking lot, but had to maneuver to avoid trees & a vehicle. The helicopter touched down hard on the rgt skid, collapsing the skid & damaging the main rotor blades. An inv revealed the forward coupling splines on the lower pulley drive shaft, pn 269A5559-3, had failed, effectively disconnecting the eng from the main rotor. The boot for retaining the lubricant in the spline area was missing & the spline & receptacle were dry of lubricant. The acdnt occurred about 71 hrs after the couplings had been repacked with lubricant.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N58188
- Reported as
- Hughes 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 380675
- Airframe hours
- 6,118
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mid States Helicopter, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 15, 1986 · 58 hours before
- Departed
- BUY · Burlington, NC
- Destination
- 8A6 · 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
- 35
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,500 total · 900 in this make and model · 200 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CLT, 10 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.