Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Page, Arizona 86040
Friday, July 18, 1997 14:15 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was hovering with an external load, when he heard a loud noise and noticed a power loss. He turned and executed a precautionary landing with a hard touchdown. The main rotor blades flexed downward and impacted the tail boom. An inspection revealed that over half of the blades in the No. 2 power section were fractured. A metallurgical examination revealed that two consecutive blades showed evidence of solutioning and re-solidification; however, the fracture surfaces did not show similar evidence of heat distress. Discoloration was also found on the power turbine wheel at a point corresponding to the location of the two blades. The operator stated that the aircraft had flown about 138 hours since all the turbine blades were replaced. None of the pilots who had flown the aircraft since then reported experiencing any hung or hot starts.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

an engine failure resulting from the fracture of two power turbine blades, which had been previously subjected to a hot or hung start.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/18/1997
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1415
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City PAGE
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 86040
Event Date Year 1997
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 1556 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID PGA
Elevation of weather observation facility 4310
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
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 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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1488
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 18 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1510
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:25PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N47B
NTSB Number LAX97LA247
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 Sikorsky
Aircraft Model S-58T
Aircraft Series Identifier S-58T
Aircraft Serial Number 58-530
Certified Max Gross Weight 12500
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 11
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jul 10 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 18
Airframe Hours 18325
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AIR ONE HELICOPTERS, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1144 COLEMAN AVENUE
Aircraft Owner City SAN JOSE
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95110
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 ONRL
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) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PGA
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 530
Departure Time Zone MST
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 10:34AM
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 --