- Date
- December 27, 1978
- Place
- Mecca, CA · MECCA, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N501DHHughes 500DH
- Status
- Completed · report May 18, 1979
- Report
- Brief approved by the director
- FAA report
- 19781227045239A
- Case key
- 138084
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
NTSB brief
NTSB’s brief of the accident, as it was printed: the coded facts, with the probable cause and factors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILE DATE LOCATION AIRCRAFT DATA INJURIES FLIGHT PILOT DATA F S M/N PURPOSE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3-4346 78/12/27 MECCA,CA HUGHES 500DH CR- 1 0 0 MISCELLANEOUS ATP,FLIGHT INSTR., AGE TIME - 0950 N501DH PX- 0 0 0 EXPERIMENTATION 54, 11858 TOTAL HOURS, DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0 2760 IN TYPE, INSTRUMENT RATED. DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION THERMAL,CA LOCAL TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION AIRFRAME FAILURE: IN FLIGHT IN FLIGHT: NORMAL CRUISE PROBABLE CAUSE(S) ROTORCRAFT - MISCELLANEOUS UNITS AND ASSEMBLIES: TAIL BOOMS/PYLONS/CONES MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS - OVERLOAD FAILURE FACTOR(S) PILOT IN COMMAND - EXCEEDED DESIGNED STRESS LIMITS OF AIRCRAFT FIRE AFTER IMPACT REMARKS- GENERAL DISINTEGRATION.ONE CITRUS TREE.L PEDAL INPUT 33% TRAVEL,TEST REQUIRED 25%.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N501DH
- Reported as
- Hughes 500DH
- Category
- Helicopter
- Engine
- turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
N501DHRegistration cancelled Feb 1, 1979 · Hughes Helicopters HUGHES 369DAirframe modelHughes Helicopters HUGHES 369D
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.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.