- Date
- July 6, 1996, 23:00 local (Jul 7, 1996, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Tampa, FL
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N10TPHughes 269B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report August 25, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960706016279A
- Case key
- 3767
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of maintenance personnel to secure the engine oil screen housing during the 50-hour inspection.
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
Ten minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed a loss of engine oil pressure and a high engine oil temperature. The engine lost power, and the pilot entered an autorotation for a forced landing. The helicopter collided with high tension wires and fell to the ground. The examination of the helicopter disclosed that the engine oil pressure screen housing was loose. The Director of Aircraft Maintenance stated that on 7/05/96 a 50-hour inspection had been completed on the helicopter which included an oil change and the removal of the oil pressure screen housing for an inspection. Maintenance personnel noticed that a small puddle of oil on the ramp at the spot where the aircraft initiated the departure.
Factual narrative
On July 6, 1996 at approximately 2300 eastern daylight time (EDT) a Hughes 269B, N10TP, collided with a utility line and the ground during a forced landing two miles southeast of Tampa International Airport. The pilot and one crew member both received serious injuries. The public use helicopter was being operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 by the pilot. Visual meteorological weather conditions existed at the time of the accident. The flight departed Tampa International Airport in Tampa Florida, at 2245.
Ten minutes into the flight, the pilot noticed a loss of engine oil pressure and a high engine oil temperature. The engine lost power, and the pilot entered an autorotation for a forced landing. During the autorotation the helicopter collided with high tension wires and fell to the ground.
The examination of the helicopter disclosed that the engine oil pressure screen housing was loose. The oil pressure screen housing hardware was still in place, but absent of torque. The Director of Aircraft Maintenance for the City Of Tampa Police Department stated that, on July 5, 1996, a 50 hour inspection had been completed on the accident helicopter which included an oil change and the removal of the oil pressure screen housing for an inspection. Maintenance personnel noticed that a small puddle of oil on the ramp at the spot where N10TP initiated the departure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N10TP
- Reported as
- Hughes 269B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 480688
- Airframe hours
- 7,576
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360--D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Tampa Police Department
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 11, 1996 · 72 hours before
- Departed
- TPA · Tampa, FL
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- TPA · Tampa International, runway 27, 7,000 × 150 ft, concrete
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 3,280 total · 1,280 in this make and model · 3,131 as pilot in command · 59 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 150° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TPA, 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.