Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Washington County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Washington, Pennsylvania 15302
Wednesday, March 5, 1997 12:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A mechanic changed one of the helicopter's lateral cyclic servos. The helicopter was test flown by the pilot with the mechanic onboard. After a successful test flight, the mechanic exited the helicopter and the pilot was to reposition the helicopter to the hospital helipad. When the pilot raised the collective, the helicopter lifted about 2 to 4 feet above the ground, and then began to roll left. The pilot attempted to correct for the left roll; however, the helicopter did not respond and the main rotor blades struck the ground. Examination of the helicopter revealed control continuity, and that the hydraulic servos were installed correctly. No preimpact failure of the airframe was observed. Examination of the servos revealed that two of the units tested to manufacturer's parameters. The master servo unit failed the bench test, had the appearance that it had been worked on, and did not meet manufacturer's specifications. The helicopter manufacturer stated that this would not induce a 'hard over.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The malfunction of a cyclic servo which resulted in a cyclic hard over at a hover.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/5/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WASHINGTON |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 15302 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WASHINGTON COUNTY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AFJ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1184 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1230 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AFJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1184 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 795 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 5 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N101UC |
| NTSB Number | NYC97LA058 |
| 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 | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS-355F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS-355F |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5186 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5391 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 10 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 5995 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LIONEL RITCHIE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5750 WILSHIRE BLVD, SUITE 590 |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOS ANGELES |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90036 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CORPORATE JETS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 15 ALLEGHENY AIRPORT |
| Operator City | ALLEGHENY |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 15122 |
| Operator Code | BAQA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AFJ |
| 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 | NONE |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 5000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |