- Date
- April 26, 1982, 15:45 local (20:45 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5784YAerospatiale AS-350D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 26, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820426011399A
- Case key
- 71088
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
The purpose of the flight was for the pilot to practice maneuvers in preparation for a part 135 check ride. The pilot was practicing power recovery autorotations to a height of about 5 ft ag. He reported that on his fourth autorotation, the engine did not accelerate when he attempted the power recovery. Subsequently, the helicopter fell through the recovery and landed hard. During the investigation, the engine fuel control and power turbine governor were removed for examination. The governor was found to be within specifications. However, an examination of the fuel control unit revealed the px trim bleed part was oversize. The specification called for a size #64 to #68 part, but a #61 part was installed. Also, there was some wear on the bellows. According to bendix corp, the oversize part and wear would have leaned the mixture, but would not have caused the power loss.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5784Y
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS-350D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1424
- Airframe hours
- 80
- Engine
- Lycoming LTS-101-600A2, 531 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Air-Op, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Air-Op, Inc.
- Departed
- Houston, TX
- Destination
- Houston, TX
- Airport
- Cypress (Closed), runway 27, 3,000 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 46
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 7,845 total · 71 in this make and model · 2,807 as pilot in command · 222 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 325° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 163 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.