- Date
- December 16, 1983, 11:22 local (19:22 UTC)
- Place
- Van Nuys, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N8108HHiller UH-12A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19831216061399A
- Case key
- 23918
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 instructor plt (CFI) stated that the eng quit 2 times after he refueled the helicopter. He then drained a quantity of water from the fuel gascolator & restarted the helicopter. After that he air taxied the helicopter to the flt school where, without shutting down the eng, his student boarded. During takeoff, the eng lost power as they were climbing thru about 300 ft AGL. The CFI executed a 180 deg turn & autorotated to an emergency landing on a flat roofed building. During the landing, the main rotor blades hit the tail boom & the front cross tube of the landing gear was bent. During an exam of the helicopter, about 1/2 gal of water was drained from the sys & about 8 ounces of water was found in the carburetor. The fuel truck was checked & no evidence of water was found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8108H
- Reported as
- Hiller UH-12A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 108
- Airframe hours
- 1,844
- Engine
- Franklin 6V-335-B, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Yehiam Konski
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 7, 1983 · 35 hours before
- Departed
- VNY · Van Nuys, CA
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
- 30
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 4,380 total · 4,330 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 31.00 inHg
- Observed at
- VNY, 1 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.
Other investigations on N8108H · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.