- Date
- April 27, 1986, 05:30 local (12:30 UTC)
- Place
- Castroville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5374VHiller UH12E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860427016079A
- Case key
- 24985
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 acft landed hard and rolled over after the lndg skid failed in a forced lndg. The plt said he was crusing at 500 ft AGL over an open field when he heard a loud bang. The helicopter began to vibrate severely and spiral to the right. The plt lost ground reference in the pre-dawn darkness when he turned on the lights. Not wanting to land too hard he elected to leave the eng running and not auto-rotate. Investigation indicated that one tail rotor blade had separated at the tension torsion strap attach bolt hole. This is the transition area where the blade root casting and sheet metal blade skin are joined. The fracture surface of the casting appeared to be overloaded with no apparent indication of fatigue. The outboard blade section showed no indication of foreign object contact. All components of the helicopter were located in the impact area except one tail rotor blade.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5374V
- Reported as
- Hiller UH12E
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2073
- Airframe hours
- 7,563
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20, 385 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Douglas E. Walker, doing business as Pilot Civilian
- Registered owner
- Verticare Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 1, 1985 · 42 hours before
- Departed
- Castroville, CA
- Destination
- Salinas, CA
- Airport
- SNS · Salinas
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 2,000 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SNS
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 N5374V · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.