Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Garden Banks
Monday, August 26, 1991 7:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER WAS ON FINAL APCH TO AN OIL RIG IN THE GULF OF MEXICO, WHEN TAIL ROTOR AUTHORITY & DRCTNL CTL WERE LOST. AS THE CREW BEGAN AN AUTOROTATION TO THE WATER, THE HELICOPTER SPUN OUT OF CTL TO THE RGT. IT MADE 2 TO 3 REVOLUTIONS & IMPACTED THE WATER. THE RGT FLOATATION GEAR DEPLOYED, BUT THE LEFT FLOATATION GEAR DIDN'T DEPLOY, BECAUSE THE PNEUMATIC LINES WERE PULLED APART DRG IMPACT. SUBSEQUENLTY, THE HELICOPTER ROLLED OVER DRG TOUCHDOWN IN THE WATER. THE CREW & 10 OF 11 PSGRS ESCAPED THRU THE EMERG WINDOWS. THE OTR PSGR REMAINED IN HIS SEAT (INCAPACITATED FM INJURIES) & DROWNED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE #1 HANGER BEARING HAD OVERHEATED & DISINTEGRATED AT AN EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPERATURE. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE TAIL ROTOR DRIVE SHAFT FAILED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
OVERHEATING AND SUBSEQUENT FAILURE OF THE NUMBER ONE TAIL ROTOR HANGER BEARING FOR AN UNDETERINED REASON, AND FAILURE OF THE TAIL ROTOR DRIVE SHAFT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/26/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 715 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | GARDEN BANKS |
| Event State | GULF OF MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | 4 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1898 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 45837 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:39AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3909F |
| NTSB Number | FTW91FA155 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| 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 | 412 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 412 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 33015 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 116600 |
| 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 | 13 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 13 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 192 |
| Airframe Hours | 10337 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ROBERT D. ARMSTONG |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 909 POYDRAS - SUITE 2300 |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW ORLEANS |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70112 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PETROLEUM HELICOPTERS |
| 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 | PHM |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | SHIP SHOLE 248 |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 650 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| 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 | -- |