- Date
- July 20, 1989, 11:23 local (18:23 UTC)
- Place
- Long Beach, CA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 5 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N143EHAerospatiale AS350D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890720066739A
- Case key
- 26259
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of the engine driven fuel pump.
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 pilot was about 15 minutes into his over water flight when the engine failed. The floats were deployed and a successful autorotation was made in the ocean. The drive splines on the engine driven fuel pump exhibited evidence of excessive asymmetrical wear and the engine accessory drive gear that drove the fuel pump splines was excessively worn. The excessive clearance between the gear and spline permitted slippage in the fuel pump drive system.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N143EH
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS350D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1450
- Engine
- Lycoming LTS-101-600A2, 615 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Island Express Helicopters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Avalon, CA
- Destination
- Long Beach, CA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 35
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- LGB, 13 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.