- Date
- June 23, 1982, 09:10 local (15:10 UTC)
- Place
- Hyannis, MA
- Injuries
- 13 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3601US.N.I.A.S. SA-330J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 23, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19820623024659I
- Case key
- 71134
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 pilot reported that he took off, and during a climb through about 800 ft, he heard a loud snap and immediately felt severe lateral vibrations. He declared an emergency and landed without further incident. An investigation revealed that the inboard trailing ear of the main rotor sleeve/spindle assembly, pn 330A31-002607, for the blue blade, had failed. Evidence of fatigue was found over most of the fracture surface and evidence of fretting corrosion was found at the origin of the fatigue. Also, an area of fretting corrosion was found on the trailing side flange of the hinge pin, on a surface clamped by the torque of the hinge pin nut. Records showed that the aerospatiale service bulletin 01.35 had been complied with on 3/30/82, and that the hinge pin had been replaced on 4/10/82, about 100 flight hours before the failure. A spot check of the maintenance facility revealed that 2 out of 3 torque wrenches were overdue a calibration check. The third provided 54 inch lbs when set for 120.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3601U
- Reported as
- S.N.I.A.S. SA-330J
- Category
- Helicopter
- Airframe hours
- 2,205
- Engine
- Turbomeca IVC, 1,170 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Petroleum Helicopters
- Registered owner
- Petroleum Helicopters
- Departed
- HYA · Hyannis, MA
- Destination
- HYA · Hyannis, MA
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- HYA · Barnstable Municipal
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 9,469 total · 1,306 in this make and model · 6,092 as pilot in command · 31 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Temperature
- 145 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.