Lihue Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lihue, Hawaii 96766
Friday, September 16, 1988 15:10 HST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DURING A LOCAL SIGHTSEEING FLIGHT, THE PILOT REPORTED THAT WHILE ON FINAL APPROACH FOR LANDING, THE AUDIO AND LIGHT FOR LOW RPM SOUNDED AND ILLUMINATED. THE HELICOPTER WAS AUTOROTATED. IT INITIALLY BOUNCED WHEN IT TOUCHED DOWN, THEN LANDED HARD. THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THE ENGINE WAS REMOVED AND PLACED ON A TEST CELL. ALL ENGINE PARAMETERS EXCLUDING THE SEAL VENT PRESSURE, WERE FOUND TO BE WITHIN LIMITS AS RECOMMENDED BY THE MANUFACTURER. AFTER CHANGING THE VENT ORIFICE FROM A NO. 2 TO A NO. 4 THE DISCREPANCY WAS CORRECTED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/16/1988
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1510
Event Time Zone Hawaii Standard Time
Event City LIHUE
Event State HAWAII
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96766
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 LIHUE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LIH
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 150
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 2200
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 21
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 7
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1914
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 19 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1540
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 38184
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 N278KA
NTSB Number LAX88LA325
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BELL
Aircraft Model 206L
Aircraft Series Identifier 206L
Aircraft Serial Number 46613
Certified Max Gross Weight 4000
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Sep 5 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 34
Airframe Hours 10395
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KENAI AIR OF HAWAII INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3121 AOLELE ST.
Aircraft Owner City HONOLULU
Aircraft Owner State HI
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96819
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name KENAI AIR OF HAWAII INC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3121 AOLELE ST
Operator City HONOLULU
Operator State HI
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 96819
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1420
Departure Time Zone HST
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 --