- Date
- July 20, 1983, 16:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N8995FHughes 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830720037069A
- Case key
- 20749
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 helicopter crashed in a relatively high speed descent while in a slight nose-low and left bank attitude. The acft had been circling at an alt of about 600 ft MSL awaiting clearance to land. The PIC in the left seat, who was not flying the acft, said he felt no yaw or change in sound but suddenly the ground was coming up and he thought he observedlow rotor RPM. The next thing he remembers is being in pain on the ground on his back. Neither the engine nor the rotorswere operating at impact as verified by observation of the wreckage. Investigation revealed that the eng and all of its accessories were capable of normal operation prior to ground impact.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8995F
- Reported as
- Hughes 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 240278
- Airframe hours
- 2,635
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Registered owner
- City Of Houston Health Dept.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,845 total · 257 in this make and model · 896 as pilot in command · 68 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HOU, 7 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.