Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Juntura, Oregon 97911
Saturday, August 8, 1998 15:05 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot-in-command (PIC) had just maneuvered the Bell 212 helicopter into a 100 foot hover above a small reservoir to fill a 'Bambi' bucket for fire-fighting operations. The rotorcraft began to settle. The PIC, perceiving that he had encountered rotor vortex conditions, slipped the helicopter to the right with the bucket still in the reservoir. This, in turn, increased the angle of the long line from the vertical or zero degree reference. Immediately thereafter, the PIC noted a loss of power in the #1 engine. He then executed a single-engine autorotation, during which a rotor blade impacted a dead tree. Post-crash examination revealed that the long line had pulled aft and left from its vertical reference into the airframe structure (the 7:30 position of the hell hole in the belly of the helicopter) resulting in 1) the separation of one of the #1 engine push/pull rods, and 2) the deformation of engine control rods associated with the #1 engine flight idle stop (solenoid) which then sheared. The shearing of the flight idle stop resulted in a restriction/cessation of fuel flow to the #1 engine fuel control unit, and subsequent engine shutdown.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain proper clearance between the long line cable and hell hole structure resulting in airframe contact and binding of the cable. This resulted in separation/disabling of the fuel control solenoid and a subsequent restriction/cessation of fuel flow to the #1 engine. Contributing factors were separation of the #1 engine push/pull rod and a tree.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/8/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1505 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | JUNTURA |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97911 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 1453 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4144 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| 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) | 7000 |
| 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) | 1487 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 8 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1705 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N291B |
| NTSB Number | SEA98GA159 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 212 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 212 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30842 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11200 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 8 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 11806 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| 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 | BLM (VALE DISTRICT) |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 100 OREGON STREET |
| Operator City | VALE |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 97918 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BNO |
| Departure City | BURNS |
| Departure State | OR |
| 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 | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| 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 | -- |