Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Puente, California 91746
Saturday, November 6, 1999 9:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Following a loss of engine power, the helicopter slid forward on the ground and the main rotor blades severed a power pole during an autorotation to a city street. While in cruise flight at 100 knots and 600 feet above ground level, the N1 engine speed began to bleed off. The pilot modulated the throttle and attempted other corrective action. However, the N1 and N2 speeds continued to bleed off and the pilot began a right turn for a 180-degree autorotation. A vehicle moved onto the road where he planned to land. The pilot attempted to land on a traffic island, but the helicopter continued on into the power pole. Following a temporary loss of power in August, maintenance technicians had removed and replaced the fuel pump and fuel control units. The helicopter accumulated about 50 hours between this maintenance and the accident. A 50-hour inspection was completed just before this flight. All connections for the pneumatic, oil supply, and scavenge lines were secure. The oil screen was clean. Fuel was present in all the fuel lines and a vacuum check on the fuel system revealed no discrepancies. The fuel spray nozzle was sooty but clear. The electric fuel pump discharged over 1 gallon of fuel in 1 minute, and investigators pumped out a total of 30 gallons of fuel from the helicopter's fuel tank. The engine driven fuel pump filter was absent of contaminants. The airframe external fuel filter contained visible contaminants, but not enough to prevent normal engine operation. The engine and transmission chip detectors were clean. The compressor, N1 turbine, and N2 turbine turned freely when manually rotated. There were no leaks in the PG governor pressure lines. The engine was run in a test cell and tested satisfactorily through accelerations, decelerations, and horsepower checks in all parameters in accordance with the Allison overhaul manual.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/6/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 950 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | LA PUENTE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91746 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 1007 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FUL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 96 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 2.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 63 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 55 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13588 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 6 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1135 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N911RN |
| NTSB Number | LAX00TA030 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | OH-58A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 70-15123 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 3 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 3750 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HUNTINGTON PARK POLICE DEPT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6542 MILES AV |
| Aircraft Owner City | HUNTINGTON PARK |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90255 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | EMT |
| Departure City | EL MONTE |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | INDUSTRY |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 3 2001 4:00AM |
| 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 | -- |