- Date
- February 16, 1988, 18:00 local (Feb 17, 1988, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Bon-Wier, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N48265Hiller UH-12-D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 25, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880216003479A
- Case key
- 22472
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Ground crewmember's failure to follow established procedures for secureing the aircraft to the transport trailer.
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 acft was being positioned onto a transport trailer after landing. A grnd crewmember secured the left rear skid to the trailer by means of a holding pin. He then proceeded to secure the right front skid (in front of the pilot). The right front skid was misaligned and the crewmember could not secure the pin. The briefed procedure for securing the acft to the trailer was for the crewmember to pin the right front skid first, so that the pilot would know that he was partially secured to the trailer. Upon seeing that the crewmember was having difficulty pinning the rt front skid, the plt attempted to lift off and reposition the acft. As pwr was applied, the acft rotated about the left rear skid and the tail rotor struck the ground. It subsequently spun and rolled, coming to rest inverted.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48265
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12-D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1060
- Airframe hours
- 12,911
- Engine
- Lycoming VO-540-C2A, 260 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Thomas E. Hanks, doing business as Custom Air Service
- Registered owner
- Hanks Hel. Spraying Serv. Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 9, 1987 · 64 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Bon-Wier, TX
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 7,013 total · 3,619 in this make and model · 6,843 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.