- Date
- November 21, 1992, 11:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Hilo, HI
- Injuries
- 3 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N789NBell 206B-III
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921121047539A
- Case key
- 27872
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's intentional flight in and near a volcanic gas cloud which induced a partial loss of engine power due to a lack of combustible oxygen in the atmosphere.
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 helicopter was equipped with 2 cameras and was doing filming runs of a volcano vent crater and its associated smoke plume for a motion picture. The pilot said that on the third pass over the crater he noticed the main rotor RPM decreasing and saw the rotor caution light. He said he lowered the collective and inadvertently entered the volcano smoke and steam cloud. After turning he exited the cloud and autorotated to the crater bottom. The main rotor struck the shear rock wall during the flare and separated from the helicopter. Two camera operators onboard said the pilot announced 'we've got a problem' as they entered the smoke cloud. Both witnesses said they did not hear the low rotor warning tone and perceived no change in engine sound during the event. One said he felt 'sideward yawing motions' during the descent. The camera operators said that after the helicopter emerged from the cloud near the bottom of the crater the rotor struck the rock wall.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N789N
- Reported as
- Bell 206B-III
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1267
- Airframe hours
- 13,609
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Paramount Pictures
- Registered owner
- Hilo Bay Air, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 16, 1992 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Hilo, HI
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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,762 total · 2,239 in this make and model · 8,509 as pilot in command · 91 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft broken
- 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.