- Date
- June 18, 1986, 09:55 local (15:55 UTC)
- Place
- Galveston, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N5796TAerospatiale AS-355F-1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 27, 1988
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860618087109A
- Case key
- 25283
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 rprtd that while apchg an oil drilling platform for a lndg, he observed the main rotor blades go out of track about 8 to 10 inches. He also rprtd the helicopter developed a 1:1 vertical vibration. Drg the lndg, the helicopter entered into ground resonance & the plt immediately shut down both engines. An exam of the helicopter revealed the left forward transmission support bar (tsb) was buckled & cracked at midspan. A metallurgical exam of the fracture area on the tsb revealed extensive, low cycle, high amplitude, fatigue cracking. There was evidence that the propagation time ofthe fatigue occurred ovr about 5 hrs of opn. The inv did not reveal when the original buckling of the tsb occurred. No history of a prev hard lndg or gnd reasonance was fnd. Also, the red arm of the starflex had failed; an exam indcd it had ruptured either under static loads, or very rapidly under hi dynamic loads. When tested, extn & retraction times of lndg gear dampers were 8.34 to 10.38 sec; after acdnt, time lmts established at 6 to 13 sec, previously 11.1 to 13.1 sec
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5796T
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS-355F-1
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 5166
- Airframe hours
- 3,500
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20F, 450 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Petroleum Helicopters, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · June 5, 1986 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- High Island 571, TX
- Airport
- High Island 571 Platform
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 7,790 total · 33 in this make and model · 7,757 as pilot in command · 87 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.