- Date
- August 8, 1985, 12:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Saint James, LA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N1385WBell UH-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850808037719A
- Case key
- 21567
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
Acft was at a 150' hover preparing to pick up a log when it experienced a power loss. Witnesses stated that they heard a loud 'bang' and the pilot radioed 'get out of the way'. Acft autorotated thru 60' to 80' trees with very low rotor RPM and impacted with no horz speed and high vertical speed. Investigation revealed that eng had experienced severe internal damage. Four compressor blades from the 4th stage rotor were found to have suffered progressive fatigue failure, which in turn caused the remainder of the blades on the 4th and 5th stages to separate leading to an eng surge and loss of power. The accident occurred in a flt regime from which the plt could not affect a recovery from the eng failure.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1385W
- Reported as
- Bell UH-1B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 62-2072
- Airframe hours
- 5,763
- Engine
- Lycoming T53-11D, 1,000 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 133
- Operator
- Skyline Air Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- AAIP · August 6, 1985 · 4 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
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 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.