Santa Barbara Co. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Santa Barbara, California 93117
Thursday, September 29, 1988 11:40 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PLT REPORTED THE ENGINE FAILED AT 25-30 FEET AGL DURING FINAL APCH. THE PLT INITIATED AN AUTOROTATION TO THE ASPHALT SURFACE OF THE HELICOPTER PARKING RAMP. STEEL PLATES WERE PLACED ON THE PARKING SPOTS TO PREVENT RAMP EROSION. THE LEFT FRONT SKID TUBE COLLIDED WITH ONE OF THE STEEL PLATES, FRACTURING THE FRONT CROSS TUBE. THE NOSE OF THE HELICOPTER PITCHED DOWN AND THE MAIN ROTOR DISC FLEXED, SEVERING THE TAIL BOOM AFT OF THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZER. EXAM OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THE NO. 1 TURBINE WHEEL FAILED AS A RESULT OF PREVIOUS CYCLES OF HIGH TEMP (2300 DEG F).

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

FAILURE OF THE #1 TURBINE WHEEL. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ACCIDENT WAS THE UNREPORTED OVER TEMPERATURE CYCLES OF THE ENGINE. ALSO CONTRIBUTING WAS THE UNSUITABILITY OF THE LANDING SURFACE FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE 1/4 INCH STEEL SHEETING.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/29/1988
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1140
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City SANTA BARBARA
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93117
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport SANTA BARBARA CO.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SBA
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 Full
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2492
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 29 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1510
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 39776
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:09PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2246Q
NTSB Number LAX88FA330
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground and In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BELL
Aircraft Model 206L-1
Aircraft Series Identifier 206L-1
Aircraft Serial Number 45752
Certified Max Gross Weight 4150
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Aug 28 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 484
Airframe Hours 3282
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PETROLEUM HELICOPTER INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 90808
Aircraft Owner City LAFAYETTE
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70509
Operator is an individual? --
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 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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger/Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code
Departure City PLATFORM HONDO
Departure State CA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1130
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SBA
Destination City SANTA BARBARA
Destination State CA
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 --