- Date
- April 15, 1985, 08:30 local (14:30 UTC)
- Place
- Boutte, LA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2252ABell UH-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850415014959A
- Case key
- 21541
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 plt had stabilized acft in a 125' hover, prior to picking up a load, when the eng spooled down and acft entered talltrees with low rotor RPM and pitched nose down as it descended thru the trees. Ground witnesses heard 2 loud 'bangs' prior to the acft entering the trees. Investigation of the eng revealed that the fuel control and pwr governor schedules were set above the specified limits. These settings would increase fuel flow and eng pwr available while decreasing operating temperatures; however, it also reduces the eng surge margin and increases the possibility of eng surge (comressor stall) and pwr drop. In addition, the compression was found dirty and the bleed air line was loose, which would have further reduced the surge margin. The nature of the long line operation and the surrounding tall trees precluded the successful completion of the eng out emergency procedure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2252A
- Reported as
- Bell UH-1B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 378
- Airframe hours
- 8,696
- Engine
- Lycoming T-53-L-11D, 1,100 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 133
- Registered owner
- J. Jaws Helicopter Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 31, 1985 · 29 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 6,317 total · 1,200 in this make and model · 158 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N2252A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.