Houston Helicopter Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pearland, Texas 77588
Thursday, August 18, 1988 11:40 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE HELICOPTER WAS AT 300 FEET AGL, MAKING AN APPROACH AFTER A MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHT, WHEN THE ENGINE OVERTEMPED AND ENGINE POWER WAS LOST. DURING THE AUTOROTATION LANDING, THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN HARD. THE ACFT ENG BEGAN TO DECELERATE PRIOR TO AUTOROTATION WHEN THE ENG TEMP ROSE TO 1000 DEGREES. A FLARE WAS INITIATED TO SLOW THE FORWARD SPEED AND COLLECTIVE PITCH WAS APPLIED TO CUSHION THE LANDING.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/18/1988
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1140
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City PEARLAND
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77588
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport HOUSTON HELICOPTER
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1907
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 29 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38177
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N16962
NTSB Number FTW88LA153
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 BELL
Aircraft Model 206B
Aircraft Series Identifier 206B
Aircraft Serial Number 236Z
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 5871
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HOUSTON HELICOPTER INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 830
Aircraft Owner City PEARLAND
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77588
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name HOUSTON HELICOPTERS, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O.BOX 830
Operator City PEARLAND
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 77588
Operator Code
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1120
Departure Time Zone CDT
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 Landing
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 --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --