Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Laguna Beach, California 92652
Wednesday, June 17, 1998 12:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The purpose of the flight was to test a portable water source, called the pumpkin, to determine if it was an acceptable means of providing water for bambi bucket operations. The pumpkin is a rubberized circular bag, which stands approximately 3 feet high and is approximately 7-8 feet in diameter. The pilot reported that he noted that the rotor downwash was blowing the top portion of the pumpkin (the portion above the water line) wide open. As the pilot raised the collective to depart, the rotor wash blew the top part of the pumpkin closed, which overlapped and snagged the rear portion of the left skid. The helicopter tilted back and the tail section struck the asphalt. The helicopter spun 180 degrees to the right just as the pilot was about to jettison the bucket. The helicopter impacted the ground on its rear left side. The pilot reported that he had not experienced any abnormal malfunction with the aircraft controls prior to the accident. He further stated that he was not in communication with any of the ground crewmembers at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadvertent entanglement of an external load, which interfered with the pilot's ability to control the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/17/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | LAGUNA BEACH |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92652 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1246 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | 580 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 17 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1254 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N185SD |
| NTSB Number | LAX98TA202 |
| 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 | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | 600N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 600N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | RN022 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 9 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 345 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | COUNTY OF ORANGE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 320 SANTA ANA BLVD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA ANA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92703 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 449 |
| Operator City | SANTA ANA |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92703 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SNA |
| Departure City | COSTA MESA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| 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 | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |