Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arbuckle, California 95912
Friday, June 23, 2000 4:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter pilot took off about 0415 from a chemical loading site, made a left turn, and departed to spray a sunflower field. Subsequently the wreckage was located 1/2 mile west of the field. The helicopter collided with level farm terrain while in a descent. The horizontal and vertical stabilizers and tail rotor assembly appeared to be undamaged. The main rotor mast had rotated about 45 degrees forward, and symmetrical upward crushing of the cabin area occurred. A postaccident examination of the helicopter was conducted. The anti-torque control system examination revealed a tail rotor pitch change shaft's AN320 castellated shear nut stripped from the rotor end of the shaft. The threads were still intact on the shaft but missing from the nut. The shaft cotter pin hole retained the sheared portions of the cotter pin. The shearing force came from an unknown source. An ongoing wear imprint from the shaft end, into the castle nut, was noted by the lab report. Nut damage to the interior of the pitch change cap was also found during the wreckage examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the partial failure of the tail rotor pitch change control rod that resulted in an attempted run-on landing in dark night conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/23/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | ARBUCKLE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95912 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| 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 | 1246 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CIC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 238 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 46 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 59 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 57 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10552 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 22 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 26 2001 10:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N807SB |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA239 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| 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 | UH-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | UH-1B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 62-1960 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 19 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 4205 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES AND CAROL MILLER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLUSA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95912 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PACIFIC VALLEY AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 247 |
| Operator City | ARBUCKLE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 95912 |
| Operator Code | NHLG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 415 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 31 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 | -- |