Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Porterville Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Porterville, California 93257
Thursday, July 28, 1983 12:03 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
ON 7/27/83, MILD MAST BUMPING OCCURRED DURING A PUSHOVER MANEUVER WHILE A HILLER FH-1180 WAS ON A FLT TO CERTIFY NEW ROTOR BLADES. PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT, THE HELICOPTER WAS ACCELERATED TO 90 MPH. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A PULL-UP & DECELERATION TO 80 MPH, THEN THE PUSHOVER WAS INITIATED. THE HELICOPTER REPORTEDLY ROLLED SHARPLY TO THE RIGHT & PITCHEDNOSE DOWN WITH SOME YAW TO THE RIGHT. RECOVERY WAS MADE WITH LEFT CYCLIC; HOWEVER, DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS LOST BEFORE RECOVERY & MILD MAST BUMPING. ON 7/28/83, FH-1100, N450FH, A STANDARD PRODUCTION MODEL, WAS FLOWN TO EXPLORE THE PHENOMENON. AFTER 2 PUSHOVERS WITH INCREASING SEVERITY, IN WHICH CONTROL WAS RETAINED, THE PLT ATTEMPTED A REPETITION OF THE PREVIOUS DAY'S MANEUVER. WITNESSES OBSERVERVED THE HELICOPTER ROLL & YAW TO THE RIGHT & PITCH DOWN AS IT BEGAN TO BREAK UP, THEN BURN & CRASH. AN EXAM REVEALED THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES SEPARATED AFTER MAST BUMPING & MAST FAILURE OCCURRED. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE PLT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN CURRENT IN TEETERING ROTOR SYSTEMS & RECOVERY FROM LOW G ROLLS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/28/1983 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1203 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | PORTERVILLE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93257 |
| Event Date Year | 1983 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | PORTERVILLE MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PTV |
| 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 | 443 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1152 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VIS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 292 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 24 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2462 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 22780 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:15AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N450FH |
| NTSB Number | LAX83FA362 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground and In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | In-flight |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | FAIRCHILD HILLER |
| Aircraft Model | FH-1100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | FH-1100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 215 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2750 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 16 1983 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 5288 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ERNST AND WHINNEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2000 NATIONAL CITY CENTER |
| Aircraft Owner City | CLEVELAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44114 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | HILLER AVIATION |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2075 SCRANTON AVE |
| Operator City | PORTERVILLE |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 93257 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1150 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| 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 | -- |