- Date
- July 19, 1985, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Soda Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 2 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N7910JBell 206B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19850719075899A
- Case key
- 24776
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
On July 19,1985 a bell 206B lost control while maneuvering near Soda Springs,CA.the aircraft was substantially damaged and the two pilots sustained serious injuries. The repoted he was maneuvering at 30 mph looking for sheep in mountainous terrain when he experienced a sudden uncommanded yaw to the right,lost control and descended uncontrolled into the terrain. He attributed the loss of controlled into the terrain. He attributed the loss of control as a loss of tail rotor effectiveness. He reported no mechanical difficulties prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7910J
- Reported as
- Bell 206B
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 675
- Airframe hours
- 16,551
- Engine
- Allison 250 C20, 400 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Hofman Ranch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
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
- 54
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine sea, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 10,300 total · 1,400 in this make and model · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.