Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ballston, Oregon 97378
Monday, November 18, 1996 16:08 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Witnesses observed the helicopter begin a left turn from north to west, then begin rotating to the left, after lifting an external load of Christmas trees. The helicopter rotated about 1 to 1 1/2 turns, then impacted the ground on its left side. Local winds at the time were from the southeast at 5 to 15 knots, according to the witnesses. On-site investigators found no evidence of airframe or engine malfunction, and noted dirt and packed mud in the engine compressor. The pilot, who was seriously injured, had no recollection of the accident sequence. In a test run of the engine at the manufacturer's facilities, the engine would not produce more than normal cruise power, but the manufacturer's test report stated that the only observable cause for this was extensive foreign object damage to the inlet guide vanes and first stage compressor blades. The engine fuel control and governor were also functionally tested and found to be slightly out of limits at certain test points, but the manufacturer stated that the exceedances observed would not significantly affect engine power output.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a loss of control for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/18/1996
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1608
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City BALLSTON
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97378
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 11
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 1608 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 106
Weather Observation Facility ID SLE
Elevation of weather observation facility 210
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2300
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 5
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 21
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 0
Intensity of Precipitation Moderate
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 --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1938
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 18 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1647
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:28AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N921RB
NTSB Number SEA97LA029
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 206B3
Aircraft Series Identifier 206B3
Aircraft Serial Number 2742
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
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 Apr 2 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 569
Airframe Hours 16284
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name RAINBOW HELICOPTERS INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 863
Aircraft Owner City REDMOND
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 97756
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 QRNL
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
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 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 --