Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Transamerica Bldg Helipad Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Los Angeles, California 90015
Monday, April 7, 1997 12:09 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot exited the helicopter to escort a deplaning passenger. The student pilot rated passenger was left sitting in the helicopter with instructions not to touch the controls. While the pilot was standing nearby, the helicopter began bouncing up and down in a resonant mode. The pilot ran back to the helicopter and pulled the fuel flow control lever into the cut-off position. The helicopter yawed to the right and settled back on the deck. Investigation revealed the full down position of the collective was spring loaded to keep tension against the control lock. An inspection of the helicopter revealed that the collective was not down and locked, nor were the frictions tightly applied. The manufacturer reported instances in which the collective lock was not seated properly, and consequently, the collective became released while the engine was running. If the lock slips off collective, the spring's tension could force the control to move upward. No malfunction or failure was found with the engine or rotor systems.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to ensure that the collective lock was properly seated before deplaning.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1209 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | LOS ANGELES |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90015 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRANSAMERICA BLDG HELIPAD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 63L |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 235 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 97 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| 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) | 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) | 1481 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 8 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 810 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N317LT |
| NTSB Number | LAX97FA149 |
| 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 | AS350D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS350D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1403 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4300 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 28 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 18 |
| Airframe Hours | 9051 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THOMAS D. THOMAS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 933 ROSCOMARE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | LOS ANGELES |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90077 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BENBOW HELICOPTERS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3401 AIRPORT DRIVE |
| Operator City | TORRANCE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 90505 |
| Operator Code | EW3A |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | UC SAN DIEGO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 63L |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Taxi |
| 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 | -- |