- Date
- November 12, 1988, 16:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Daytona Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N37632Hughes 269A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 11, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19881112070089I
- Case key
- 32320
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
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
During normal cruise flt, the main rotor drive system failed for undetermined reason(s). Grass was ignited by exhaust gasses after touchdown, resulting in fire, destroying the helicopter. Examination of eng compartment revealed no evidence of catastrophic failure or malfunction of the transmission drive assy. The plt stated he believes the loss of main rotor drive may have been due to belt or idler pulley cable stretch. The total no. of transmission drive belts operating when the loss of main rotor drive occurred could not be determined. According to the plt a 2 belts will drive the transmission. He also stated that according to the plt the failure may have been due to the stretching of the idler pulley cable or the transmission drive belts. The tension of the idler pulley cable was checked aprx 12 hrs prior to the accident and scheduled to be rechecked after 13 hrs of operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N37632
- Reported as
- Hughes 269A
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 46-0499
- Airframe hours
- 4,206
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360-B1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mark W. Patterson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 29, 1988 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- 44J · Daytona Beach, 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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 921 total · 75 in this make and model · 812 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 30,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DAB, 8 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.