Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yerington, Nevada 89447
Sunday, April 14, 1996 11:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot experienced a total loss of engine power while cruising between 200 and 300 feet above ground level and at an airspeed of 100 knots. The pilot reported that the engine noise resembled the same whining as if it were in a shut down mode. The pilot entered an autorotation and landed in an open field approximately 0.5 miles from his airstrip. The accident site examination revealed that the helicopter had touched down with forward speed and made depressions in the soft ground over a distance of 25 to 30 feet. The helicopter rolled onto its side and a main rotor blade severed the tail boom. Tail rotor blade and drive shaft components separated from the helicopter and were found 200 feet from the main wreckage. The last annual inspection was performed 6 months prior to the accident flight and the aircraft had flown 16.9 hours. Also, the last compressor wash was performed about 2 months prior to the flight and had flown 8 hours since then. The postaccident engine examination revealed accumulated nozzle port debris and dirty compressor blades and vanes. The engine flamed out during its first test run and, during subsequent tests, it produced power 7.8 percent below specifications.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the partial loss of engine power and the pilot's misjudged flare during an autorotation landing in soft dirt with excessive forward speed. The power loss resulted from flight operations in an environment which debris contaminated the engine's nozzle port and compressor assembly.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1155 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | YERINGTON |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89447 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | 1 |
| 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 | 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 315 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 7 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 689 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 14 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1345 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 9:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N519BH |
| NTSB Number | LAX96LA168 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 854D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 1793 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WILLIAM BARRON HILTON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9336 CIVIC CENTER DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | BEVERLY HILLS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90210 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1110 |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| 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 | -- |