- Date
- March 20, 1985, 12:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Elma, WA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N9592FHughes 269C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 40133
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
Just prior to lift-off a vibration accompanied by lateral rocking occurred. Although the plt brought the power to idle. The helicopter had already started to come apart. During engine examination it was found that the ground resonance occurred due to under to rq wing of the main rotor dampners. The dampners had been serviced just 1.5 hours prior to this accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9592F
- Reported as
- Hughes 269C
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 440296
- Airframe hours
- 2,707
- Engine
- Lycoming HIO-360 D1A, 190 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial observation · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Olympic Air
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 7, 1984 · 66 hours before
- Destination
- Chehalis River, WA
- Airport
- WA22 · Elma 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
- 26
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,126 total · 56 in this make and model · 1,030 as pilot in command · 274 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 50 °F
Other investigations on N9592F · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.