- Date
- September 2, 2014, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Willows, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N516PJHughes 369D
- Defining event
- Enroute: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 27, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20140902016589A
- Case key
- 90007
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's failure to adequately secure cargo (a jacket), which resulted in the jacket exiting the cabin compartment and colliding with the tail rotor during cruise flight.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
While in cruise flight an unsecured jacket departed the helicopter through an open window. The tail rotor drive shaft sheared as a result of the jacket's contact with the tail rotors. The pilot subsequently initiated a forced landing to an orchard where during landing, the main rotors struck and separated the tailboom. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
While in cruise flight an unsecured jacket departed the helicopter through an open window. The tail rotor drive shaft sheared as a result of the jacket's contact with the tail rotors. The pilot subsequently initiated a forced landing to an orchard where during landing, the main rotors struck and separated the tailboom. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the helicopter that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N516PJ
- Reported as
- Hughes 369D
- Category
- Helicopter
- Serial number
- 1188D
- Built
- 1982
- Airframe hours
- 9,258
- Engine
- Rolls Royce/Allison 250-C20B, 420 horsepower, turbo shaft
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Pj Helicopters Inc
- Registered owner
- Pj Helicopters Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 22, 2014
- Departed
- WLW · Willows, CA
- Destination
- WLW · Willows, CA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- WLW · Willows-Glenn County
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 67
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 22,100 total · 6,495 in this make and model · 19,005 as pilot in command · 140 in the last 90 days · 46 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 91 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.76 inHg
- Observed at
- KCIC, 25 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 16, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 14.6 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.