- Date
- December 9, 1986, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Zephyrhills, FL
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8390FHughes 369HS
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19861209067029A
- Case key
- 31740
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
A witness stated that she heard the eng on the helicopter quit. She looked out her window and watched the helicopter hit the ground, bounce, hit again, flip over and the tail broke off. The helicopter then burst into flames and exploded. Exam of the eng revealed that the pc air filter assembly was broken at the forward inlet side of the filter body which resulted in the loss of pc air pressure to the fuel control. This caused the eng power to reduce to flight idle. The pc filter housing broke due to an improper modification to the filter body.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8390F
- Reported as
- Hughes 369HS
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 860855S
- Airframe hours
- 645
- Engine
- Allison 250-C20, 278 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- F. M.Mc Gahee
- Registered owner
- Francis M. Mcgahee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 4, 1986
- Departed
- Tampa, FL
- Destination
- Jacksonville, 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
- 68
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Expired
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,000 total · 20 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 170° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PIE, 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.