- Date
- June 10, 1983, 00:18 local (07:18 UTC)
- Place
- Goleta, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N59636Bell 212
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830610025069A
- Case key
- 23463
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 stated that as he approached the oil rig & reduced power to start his descent from 500 ft, the tail rotor (t/r) pedals began to vibrate. The vibrations became worse with a further reduction of power to reduce airspeed. The plt then planned a descent so as to be closer to the water in case of a complete t/r failure. However, the acft unexpectedly struck the water before the plt armed the automatically actuated emergency flotation bags. The acft immediately rolled over. The m/r assembly, t/r assembly aft of the 42 deg gear box, vertical fin & upper transmission were not recovered. The operator did not have a CFR 135 exemption allowing single pilot operational of a bell 212 over water.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N59636
- Reported as
- Bell 212
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 30678
- Airframe hours
- 4,541
- Engine
- P&W PT6T-3B, 900 lbs thrust, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Fevergreen Helicopters Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · May 2, 1983 · 4 hours before
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 44
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter, Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 6,328 total · 460 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 112 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SBA, 5 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.