- Date
- December 27, 1984, 10:15 local (15:15 UTC)
- Place
- La Belle, FL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8126HFairchild Hiller FH-1100
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19841227075139A
- Case key
- 31219
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 helicopter was observed flying at a low alt & lost all eng power, banked sharpley to the left, lost complete control & dove into the ground. The acft was destroyed by impact forces along with the post crash fire. No evidence to suggest a malfunction of the helicopter's structure or flt controls prior to impact was found. One main rotor blade exibited evidence of upward bending at the tip, indicative of coning at impact. Eng teardown & examination revealed that the eng failed due to the injestion of a cloth shop towel into the compressor section of the eng.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8126H
- Reported as
- Fairchild Hiller FH-1100
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 209
- Engine
- Allison 250-C18, 274 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Carribean Freighters In'Tl Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- La Belle, FL
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 8,400 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FMY, 30 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.
Other investigations on N8126H · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.