- Date
- February 13, 1984, 16:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Morgan City, LA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 3 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N70709Sikorsky S-58E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19840213003279A
- Case key
- 21259
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 was hovering above trees at about 100 ft AGL when the tail rotor chip detector lgt flickered svrl times, then illuminated steadily. This was followed by a loud grinding noise from the tail area & the acft yawed to the right. The acft entered an autorotation after making 3 turns to the right. It descended into the trees at which time the main rotor blades were broken off. An exam of the intermediate tail rotor gear box disclosed that 6 teeth in the input bevel pinion gear, pn S1635-64114, had failed in the root area. A metallurgical exam determined that the failure zone had fatigue indications. Cracks were found in other areas of the gear box. Sikorsky engineers determined that the gear box had been subjected to heavy loads. The gear box had been last opened in 1968. One gear was not a Sikorsky product.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70709
- Reported as
- Sikorsky S-58E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 145693
- Engine
- Wright R-1820-84, 1,525 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John J. Eakin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
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
- 33
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,124 total · 63 in this make and model · 3,008 as pilot in command · 63 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.