Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
West Linn, Oregon 97068
Sunday, July 2, 2000 16:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while northbound along the Willamette River at 700 feet above ground level (AGL), the helicopter yawed left and the ENGINE OUT light came on. The pilot stated he put the helicopter into autorotation, told his passengers to brace for a hard landing, gave a Mayday call and put the helicopter in what he thought was the safest place to land. The helicopter landed hard on the river bank, seriously injuring the pilot, but the passengers were not injured. During post-accident engine examination, a red sealer, which appeared as high temperature RTV, was noted to be applied extensively and heavily on several areas of the engine. Disassembly examination of the engine revealed red sealant adhered to the engine interior surfaces, as well as at various points in the engine oil system. Subsequently, the spur adapter gearshaft (SAG, a shaft that joins the gas producer turbine to the engine compressor) was found fractured, heat-distressed, and dry of lubrication. During an oil flow test of the oil delivery tube servicing the SAG, no oil flowed from the oil jet targeted for the SAG. Closer examination of the oil delivery tube revealed that this oil jet was clogged. Since complete maintenance records were not provided to investigators, a full service history for the engine could not be established.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper maintenance (excessive/improper sealant application) by an unknown person, and subsequent fracture of the spur adapter gearshaft resulting in a total loss of engine power. Factors included foreign material/substance in the engine oil, a blocked oil delivery tube oil jet, and oil starvation in the area of the spur adapter gearshaft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | WEST LINN |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97068 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| 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 | Pilot |
| 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 | 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 998 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1645 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2784D |
| NTSB Number | SEA00LA121 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Fairchild Hiller |
| Aircraft Model | FH-1100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | FH-1100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 129 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 10 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 2447 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HURST AVIATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 485 |
| Aircraft Owner City | COULTERVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 62237 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BENNIE B. FINNELL II |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 85913 HIGHWAY 101 |
| Operator City | SEASIDE |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 97138 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | MILWAUKIE |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1610 |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2001 4:09AM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |