- Date
- August 24, 1999, 12:20 local (22:20 UTC)
- Place
- Kahului, HI
- Injuries
- 5 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N6094SAerospatiale AS350BA
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990824013429A
- Case key
- 47145
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 initial misjudgment of the wind speed and his decision to continue a downwind landing approach when his speed and altitude profile was inadequate, and his failure to maintain main rotor rpm, resulting in settling with power and a hard landing.
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 said he made a downwind approach to an open area at a remote ranch for noise abatement reasons. He stated that he misjudged the wind speed and found himself slower and lower than he originally planned, as he turned base to final, and encountered a power settling condition. The pilot attempted to apply left pedal to turn the helicopter back into the wind, but the helicopter continued the descent and landed hard. The rotor rpm horn came on just prior to contact with the ground.
Factual narrative
On August 24, 1999, at 1220 hours Hawaiian standard time, an Aerospatiale AS350BA helicopter, N6094S, landed hard following a landing approach to an open field at the Mendez Ranch, near Kahului, Hawaii. The helicopter, operated by Sunshine Helicopters under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 135, sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot and four passengers were not injured. The helicopter was on an on-demand air taxi flight to drop off the passengers to the ranch when the accident occurred. A company VFR flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight originated at Kahului airport at 1205.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Standards District Office in Honolulu, Hawaii, the accident site is approximately 5 miles from the Kahului airport on the 280-degree radial, which would place the accident site west-northwest of the airport.
The pilot told Safety Board investigators that he had made his approach downwind due to noise abatement concerns and set it up with left turns in mind. He said he entered his downwind leg from offshore at 1,000 feet msl and airspeed of 110 knots, and gradually began to descend and slow his airspeed. As he neared the base to final turn point, he noticed that he had misjudged the winds in the area and he found himself "slower and lower than he wanted to be." He said that as he turned final at 75-100 feet agl, he perceived that he was in a settling with power condition. He said he immediately applied left pedal to turn the helicopter back into the wind, but the helicopter continued to descend, so he applied more collective and heard the low rotor rpm horn come on just before he contacted the ground. The pilot stated that the helicopter "hit hard" and sprang back into the air. He said he followed the left turning tendency of the helicopter with the cyclic and lowered the collective to get the helicopter back on the ground.
The pilot later told FAA inspectors that he "misjudged the winds, and ended up down wind, low and slow."
The pilot said that after the accident the winds were out of the east about 25 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6094S
- Reported as
- Aerospatiale AS350BA
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 2722
- Airframe hours
- 8,665
- Engine
- Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B, 600 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Sunshine Helicopters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 10, 1999 · 59 hours before
- Departed
- OGG · Kahului, HI
- 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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 11,871 total · 8,347 in this make and model · 11,000 as pilot in command · 247 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 25 knots, gusting 28
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.