Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lafayette Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lafayette, Louisiana 70509
Tuesady, May 25, 1993 9:14 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER EXPORTATION FROM CANADA, MBB BK 117 HELICOPTER WAS BEING RE-ASSEMBLED & MODIFIED FROM MODEL A-3 TO MODEL A-4; 24 HOUR/DAY SCHEDULE WAS USED TO EXPEDITE MODIFICATION FOR USE AS AIR AMBULANCE. SHIFT CHANGE OCCURRED DURING MAINTENANCE ON VERTICAL CONTROL TUBES; WHEN COMPLETED, HELICOPTER WAS FLOWN ON TEST FLIGHT. NO ANOMALIES OF FLIGHT CONTROLS WERE NOTED UNTIL FLARING TO HOVER BEFORE LANDING. PILOT SAID THAT WHILE POWER WAS BEING APPLIED, CYCLIC & PEDALS WERE MANIP- ULATED ACCORDINGLY. LEFT MOVEMENT OF CYCLIC WAS REQUIRED TO OVERCOME (ROLL &) DRIFT TO RIGHT. AT THAT TIME, THE PILOT NOTED INSUFFICIENT CYCLIC CONTROL & THE HELICOPTER CONTINUED TO ROLL RIGHT UNTIL THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES STRUCK THE GROUND. THE HELICOPTER THEN IMPACTED ON ITS RIGHT SIDE & SLID TO A STOP. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE LATERAL & COLLECTIVE UPPER ADJUSTABLE CONTROL RODS HAD BEEN INTERCHANGED & COLOR CODING REPAINTED. THE INTERCHANGE OF CONTROL RODS RESULTED IN A MISRIGGED SWASHPLATE WITH A HIGHER PRESET COLLECTIVE PITCH & A RIGHT TILT OF THE SWASHPLATE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
CYCLIC CONTROL ROD MOVEMENT WAS RESTRICTED DUE TO IMPROPER INSTALLATION OF THE LATERAL CYCLIC CONTROL ROD BY COMPANY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/25/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 914 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | LAFAYETTE |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70509 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LAFAYETTE REGIONAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LFT |
| 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 | 42 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 851 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LFT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 42 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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) | 774 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N401PH |
| NTSB Number | FTW93FA163 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MBB |
| Aircraft Model | BK 117 A-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | BK 117 A-4 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7050 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6283 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 24 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 2128 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMERICAN EUROCOPTER CORP. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2701 FORUM DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRAND PRAIRIE |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75053 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P. O. BOX 90808 |
| Operator City | LAFAYETTE |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 70509 |
| Operator Code | HEEA |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Unknown |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LFT |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 906 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LFT |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 11 |
| Runway Length | 5201 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |