Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Nuys, California 91406
Saturday, January 2, 1999 21:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a night training flight over mountainous terrain the pilot heard a loud 'clunking' sound, which was accompanied by vibrations. The engine then emitted a loud grinding, metallic grating sound. Simultaneously, warning lights, engine chip lights, and the rpm decay light became illuminated. The pilot lowered the collective and entered an autorotation but did not have sufficient airspeed and altitude to reach a dirt road, so he turned down a canyon and performed a hard flare and near-vertical descent with little forward speed. The helicopter landed hard and came to rest on rough uneven terrain surrounded by trees and high vegetation. Postaccident examination revealed that the engine power turbine as viewed from the exhaust exhibited damage. The number 4 turbine wheel was missing all of its blades and the blades on the number 3 turbine wheel were damaged. Scoring was evidenced on the inside diameter of the turbine case in the area of the Nos. 3 and 4 turbine wheels. All the vanes and inner and outer supports of the second stage power turbine nozzle were displaced and/or missing, and fragments of the outer vane support were torn and distorted. The third stage turbine nozzle exhibited extensive damage on the trailing edges of the vanes and on the shroud/outer housing. Metallurgical examination of the turbine components disclosed features indicative of overload fractures without evidence of material defects or fatigue. The metallurgist concluded that the overall type and degree of engine damage was indicative of a component failure in the second stage power turbine nozzle area; however, the cause of the component failure was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to an undetermined component failure in the second stage power turbine nozzle area. Factors in the accident were the mountainous/hilly nature of the terrain and the dark night lighting conditions which precluded the pilot from selecting a suitable forced landing area.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/2/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2115 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | VAN NUYS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91406 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1258 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 2 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2245 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N58126 |
| NTSB Number | LAX99TA066 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 205A-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 205A-1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30136 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10200 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 15 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 9 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 33 |
| Airframe Hours | 6361 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CITY OF LOS ANGELES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ROOM 800 CITY HALL EAST |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOS ANGELES |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90012 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | VNY |
| Departure City | VAN NUYS |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |