Lafayette Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lafayette, Louisiana 70501
Tuesady, January 22, 1985 14:45 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE ACFT DEPARTED AT 2040 CST AS A FLT OF 2 ON A FERRY FLT. SHORTLY AFTER LEVEL-OFF AT 700 FT AND POWER STABILIZED AT 72% TORQUE THE ENGINE FAILED AND THE ACFT YAWED LEFT AND RIGHT. AN AUTORATION WAS INITIATED INTO A SOFT PLOWED FIELD WITH A SLIGHT DOWN-SLOPE. UPON TOUCHDOWN, ACCORDING TO THE PLT, THE NOSE ROCKED FORWARD AND THE MAIN ROTOR BLADE STRUCK AND SEVERED THE TAILBOOM AT THE HORIZONTAL STABILIZER. ENGINE DISASSEMBLY REVEALED FAILURE OF THE NUMBER 2 BEARING FOR UNKNOWN SPECIFIC CAUSE. BEARING FAILURE ALLOWED THE COMPRESSOR IMPELLER TO MOVE FORWARD AND MAKE CONTACT WITH THE COMPRESSOR SHROUD HOUSING INNER DIAMETER.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/22/1985
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1445
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City LAFAYETTE
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70501
Event Date Year 1985
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LAFAYETTE REGIONAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LFT
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 3
Degrees magnetic from airport 30
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1450 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 210
Weather Observation Facility ID LFT
Elevation of weather observation facility 42
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
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) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2194
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jan 23 1985 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 30033
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 9:14AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2762X
NTSB Number FTW85FA100
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 206L-1
Aircraft Series Identifier 206L-1
Aircraft Serial Number 45345
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 1984 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 77
Airframe Hours 2241
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name H. C. I. HELICOPTERS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2308 HELENA
Aircraft Owner City KENNER
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70062
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 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) Ferry
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LFT
Departure City LAFAYETTE
Departure State LA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1440
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code BTR
Destination City BATON ROUGE
Destination State LA
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:36AM
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 --