Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Emigrant Gap, California 95715
Saturday, August 26, 1995 9:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While flying upslope with an external load of logs at almost zero airspeed, the pilot (PIC) heard an 'explosion' and noted that the helicopter pitched nose-up and rolled right. He turned to initiate a downslope forced landing, while experiencing control feedback and stiffness. As the crew began an approach, the copilot attempted to jettison the load with the electrical release; however, neither crew member verified the results of the procedure. As the aircraft continued to descend on the approach, the cargo hook struck the ground, opened, and released the logs. At the termination of the approach, the helicopter's main rotor blade struck several trees. After the helicopter touched down, it rolled onto its left side in a shallow stream. The No. 2 engine exhibited evidence indicating that it was producing power at impact; however, the No. 1 engine exhibited evidence indicating that it was not rotating. During subsequent inspections, no preimpact anomaly was found with either of the engines or of associated systems.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a compressor stall in the right engine for an unknown reason, which resulted in a loss of power in that engine; and inadequate crew coordination between the pilot and copilot, which resulted in their failure to ensure that the external load was promptly jettisoned or released.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/26/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | EMIGRANT GAP |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95715 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 952 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5284 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2072 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 26 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1034 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N64AR |
| NTSB Number | LAX95LA305 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Sikorsky |
| Aircraft Model | CH-54A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | CH-54A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 68-18454 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 42000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 22 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 3980 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCO MATT, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 359 BUREN ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | KETCHIKAN |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99901 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | RICK LEISHMAN |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 19378 CENTRAL ROAD |
| Operator City | APPLE VALLEY |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92307 |
| Operator Code | H3VL |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |