Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kernville, California 93238
Saturday, October 7, 2000 17:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter rolled over during an emergency landing following a severe vibration and loss of antitorque control. The pilot stated that he was descending from 7,500 feet msl with an indicated airspeed of 125 knots in mountainous terrain and light turbulence. The first indication of trouble was a loud snap sound from the rear of the helicopter, followed by violent airframe vibrations. The pilot reported that there were no unusual vibrations in any of the controls. He made a right turn to land on the best available terrain. As the turn was completed, antitorque control was lost, and the helicopter began a series of rapid clockwise spins. The helicopter spun at least three times before impact. Examination of the helicopter revealed a torsional failure of the tail rotor drive shaft at 8 inches forward of the aft Kamatics coupling. This failure is consistent with a tail rotor sudden stoppage. Leading edge tail rotor blade damage was observed to both blades, with red and blue color and material transfers evident. Examination of the tail rotor blade leading edges by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer of the accumulation revealed the material to be of a cellophane base. The pilot reported that prior to departure from Big Creek, he placed a red and blue checkered shirt contained in a plastic bag on the rear seat with other personal baggage. He speculated that during his descent from 7,500 feet, he had experienced some turbulence and the left rear door may have popped open. Neither the bag nor the shirt was recovered at the accident site.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper storage of personal items and his inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in the unlatching of the left rear cabin door during flight and allowing a plastic garment bag to blow out and strike the tail rotor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/7/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1740 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | KERNVILLE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93238 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| 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) | 14032 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 7 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N819CE |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA006 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | 369E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0028E |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 25 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 93 |
| Airframe Hours | 7772 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2161 E. AVIONS ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ONTARIO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91761 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | BIG CREEK |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1640 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ONT |
| Destination City | ONTARIO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2003 1:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |