Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Van Nuys Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Van Nuys, California 91406
Sunday, March 26, 2000 22:13 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While hovering out of ground effect, the helicopter had a hydraulic system failure. The pilot shutoff the hydraulic accumulator pressure 5 seconds after the warning horn sounded. According to the onboard cameraman the helicopter began to spin. The pilot stabilized the helicopter, and reported to other news helicopters filming the night time event, that she had lost hydraulic pressure and was experiencing control problems. Another pilot suggested that the pilot consider two airports within 5 miles. The pilot elected to return to the home base, about 15 miles away. The pilot reported en route to escorting helicopters that her right leg was 'killing her.' A hover landing was attempted, and a loss of control resulted in spinning out of control to the ground. Postaccident examination revealed a failed hydraulic pump drive pulley bearing and subsequent drive belt failure. According to the rotorcraft flight manual, 'The pressure stored in the accumulators allows sufficient time to reach the 'refuge' area with hydraulic servo-assistance.' According to manufacturer representatives, that time is between 30 and 45 seconds, depending on control inputs. The pilot action is to 'Calmly reduce collective pitch and adjust the airspeed to between 40 and 60 knots in level flight. Cut off the hydraulic pressure, using collective lever pushbutton.' According FAA medical data, the pilot's last reported weight was 108 pounds and a height of 61 inches. According to pilots who are experienced in this model, body size and strength are important issues in handling this type of emergency. The manufacturer representative stated that it is an emergency, and the pilot should land as soon as practical. It was also stated that the accident pilot had recently completed the factory-training course successfully.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to land as soon as practical and to utilize the available accumulator pressure to transition from hover to flight. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's physical stature and strength, and the inadequate and incomplete emergency training and flight manual information.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/26/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2213 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | VAN NUYS |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91406 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | VAN NUYS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VNY |
| 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 | 799 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2220 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VNY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 799 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 19000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10088 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 26 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2240 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 17 2001 8:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N500WC |
| NTSB Number | LAX00FA136 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS350B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS350B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1509 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4300 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 24 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 63 |
| Airframe Hours | 8382 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | THE PURWIN COMPANY LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16425 HART ST. HANGAR #2 |
| Aircraft Owner City | VAN NUYS |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91406 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HELINET CORPORATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | HOCA |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | VNY |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 14 2001 4:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34L |
| Runway Length | 8001 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |