Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mcminnville, Oregon 97128
Saturday, July 6, 1996 14:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine fuel governor had been replaced since the previous flight. About 4 minutes after takeoff, while maneuvering at 400 to 500 feet above ground level, the helicopter's Engine Power Out (EPO) warning light and horn activated. The pilot reduced collective and entered an autorotation, but had to turn downwind to clear trees. The engine N2 (power turbine) RPM was stabilized at 88 to 90 percent during the descent, as compared to a normal range of 102 to 103 percent. The helicopter touched down in a soft field at 20 to 25 MPH forward speed, slid about 30 feet, and rolled over. On-site investigators found the adjustable governor lever control rod disconnected from the governor control lever, which a McDonnell Douglas investigator stated would result in loss of automatic governing of engine RPM. The nut and washer for securing the adjustable control rod to the governor control lever were found in the bottom of the engine compartment, but the cotter pin specified for safetying the nut and washer was not located. The aircraft operating handbook directed pilots to check the fuel control and N2 governor linkages during preflight inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
improper maintenance (replacement) and inspection of the engine fuel governor by company maintenance personnel, the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, and a subsequent disconnect of the adjustable governor lever control rod, which disabled the engine speed governor and resulted in a partial loss of engine power. Factors relating to the accident were: trees and soft terrain in the emergency landing area, and a tailwind during the forced landing touchdown.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/6/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1440 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | MCMINNVILLE |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97128 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 149 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SLE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 210 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1605 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1507 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 6 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1540 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5110Y |
| NTSB Number | SEA96LA144 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 510970D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2965 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 5 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 6013 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EVERGREEN EQUITY INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3850 THREE MILE LANE |
| Aircraft Owner City | MCMINNVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97128 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EVERGREEN HELICOPTERS INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | LCFA |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MMV |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1436 |
| 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 | -- |