- Date
- September 14, 1990, 13:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Prestonburg, KY
- Injuries
- 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N50075Hughes 369E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900914039799A
- Case key
- 11612
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 lost of engine power for undetermined reasons.
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
The plt reported that about 30 minutes into the en route portion of the flight, the engine lost power. He did an autorotation and unsuccessfully tried to land in a field, but the acft collided with trees short of it. The plt stated that the aux tanks were full and the main tank gage indicated 90 lbs (14 gals) when the power loss occurred. He reported that the aircraft was flown about 1.9 hrs since it was last refueled. The main and aux tank capacity, respectively, are 64 and 20 gals. Examination of the engine did not disclose evidence of any mechanial malfunction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N50075
- Reported as
- Hughes 369E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 0004E
- Airframe hours
- 2,037
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 480 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Branham S Baker Coal Co., Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 6, 1990 · 103 hours before
- Departed
- Flatwoods, KY
- Destination
- Pikesville, KY
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,582 total · 839 in this make and model · 6,552 as pilot in command · 106 in the last 90 days · 39 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 10 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JKL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.