- Date
- May 31, 1986, 12:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kameula, HI
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N909CHAerospatiale AS-355F-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 27, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860531087019A
- Case key
- 25282
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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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 rprtd that as he 'hovered' the helicopter btn 5 & 10 ft after lift-off, he noted a 'slight lateral vibration.' He lndd immediately, but the vibration/ground resonance (vib) increased in severity, so he 'shut-off' both throttles. The vib contd to the extent that he couldn't hold onto the cyclic ctl stick. The transmission sepd fm its attach point &the main rotor blades contacted the gnd bfr the eng stopped. An exam revealed the transmission support bars (tsb's) had failed drg the acdnt. There was evidence of overload failure of the tsb's, except the left fwd tsb had evidence of fa- tigue on either side of the buckled area. A striation count indcd the crack had progressed ovr an estd time of at least 1 hr & 15 min. Also, an arm of the starflex assy (s/a) had failed. The s/a had 323 hrs since rplcmnt. Craze cracks were fnd on the s/a, but an exam failed to verify whether they had formed bfr or drg the acdnt. The s/a was aprx 3% porous & holes in the enamel barrier allowed environmental blackening of its edges. Lndg skid shock absorbers were badly dmg.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N909CH
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS-355F-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 5123
- Airframe hours
- 731
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20F, 450 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hemmeter Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Hemmeter Investment Company
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 5, 1985 · 78 hours before
- Destination
- Maui, HI
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,657 total · 200 in this make and model · 2,040 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 60° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.