Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Moncks Corner, South Carolina 29461
Friday, April 20, 1990 10:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE HELICOPTER WAS BEING USED FOR LOGGING USING AN EXTERNAL LIFT LONG LINE. A LOAD OF LOGS WAS RETURNED TO THE LOGGING LANE BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO HEAVY. AS THE HELICOPTER WAS BROUGHT TO A HOVER, & THE LOAD PICKLED, THE GROUND CREW OBSERVED THAT THE HELIOCPTER BECAME UNCONTROLLABLE. THE HELICOPTER NOSE PITCHED UP, IT ROLLED LEFT, & FELL TO THE GROUND FROM ABOUT 200 FEET. EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT NONE OF THE MAIN ROTOR PILLOW BLOCK BOLTS WERE PRESENT. DAMAGE TO THE MAIN ROTOR WAS CONSISTENT WITH A FAILURE OF ONE OF THE BOLTS, IN-FLIGHT, WHICH RESULTED IN SEPARATION OF THE MAIN ROTOR FROM THE MAST. LABORATORY EXAM OF THE MAIN ROTOR REVEALED THAT MFGRS OVERHAUL PROCEDURES WERE NOT FOLLOWED WHICH PROBABLY ALLOWED CORROSION OF THE BOLTS TO OCCUR. THE PROCEDURES WERE CHANGED TO PRECLUDE RE-USE OF PILLOW BLOCK BOLTS DURING OVERHAUL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE IN-FLIGHT SEPARATION OF THE MAIN ROTOR BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE OF A PILLOW BLOCK BOLT, AND THE FAILURE OF THE OPERATOR/REPAIR STATION TO FOLLOW THE OVERHAUL PROCEDURES.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/20/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MONCKS CORNER |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29461 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.9 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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) | 2080 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 20 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43834 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N67HJ |
| NTSB Number | ATL90FA100 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| 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 | 205A-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 205A-1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30193 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10500 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 15 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 10639 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | |
| Aircraft Owner City | |
| Aircraft Owner State | |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HELI JET CORPORATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3830 CROSS STREET |
| Operator City | EUGENE |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 97402 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |