- Date
- July 14, 1983, 17:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Interior, SD
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8545FBell 47J-2A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830714031479A
- Case key
- 16115
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 on a sight-seeing flt over a park, the plt heard a loud noise & the helicopter shuddered & lost power. At that time, the acft was over a canyon, so the plt looked for the flatest area to land & began an autorotation. During the landing, the helicopter bounced instead of slidding. Subsequently, the skids bent, the tail rotor hit the ground & the main rotor blades hit the tail boom. An investigation revealed that the eng failed after a connecting rod bolt had failed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8545F
- Reported as
- Bell 47J-2A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 3704
- Airframe hours
- 3
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-B1B3, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Jay Brent
- Registered owner
- Jimmie Barense
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Unknown · July 13, 1983 · 3 hours before
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
- 28
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 500 total · 95 in this make and model · 387 as pilot in command · 95 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 12 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 100 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.