- Date
- June 21, 1990, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Randle, WA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4428FHughes 369HS
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900621023899A
- Case key
- 41215
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot failed to compensate for the wind conditions.
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
At the end of a sightseeing flight, the pilot approached the landing zone with a tail wind and gusting wind conditions at 30 knots. Approximately 20-30 feet AGL, a gust of wind caught the helicopter which veered off and skimmed over power lines in the close proximity to the landing zone. Power was applied and the helicopter gained 20-30 feet and continued on to land hard in the open field. There were no reported mechanical failures or malfunctions with the helicopter at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4428F
- Reported as
- Hughes 369HS
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1290226S
- Engine
- Allison 250-C18A, 278 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Conquest Helicopters
- Registered owner
- Unknown
- Departed
- NONE · Randle, WA
- Airport
- NONE
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 6,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 30 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.