Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Los Alamitos Aaf Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Long Beach, California 90808
Monday, November 7, 1983 17:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AT 4,000 FT MSL DIRECTIONAL CONTROL WAS LOST. WITNESSES OBSERVED THE HELICOPTER DESCENDING THROUGH THE LOCALIZED CLOUD LAYER IN A LEFT HIGH-ROTATION TURN, WITH THE PITCH ATTITUDE VARYING & ITS RATE OF DESCENT 'VERY FAST.' THE HELICOPTER THEN COLLIDED WITH HIGH TENSION WIRES. THE T/R SERVO WAS FOUND ATTACHED TO THE VERT STABILIZER MOUNT WITH THE UPPER PORTION OF THE N-DEG-2 LEVER ATTACHED TO IT. THE PITCH CHANGE LEVER FROM THE SERVO TO THE 90-DEG GEARBOX HAD FRACTURED DO TO HIGH CYCLE FATIGUE. THE T/R BLADES CONTAINED COUNTERWEIGHTS WHICH ARE DESIGNED, TOGETHER WITH AERODYNAMIC AIRLOADS, TO ASSIST IN RETURNING THE BLADES TO A NEAR 'NEUTRAL' PITCH IN THE EVENT OF A T/R DRIVE AND/OR PITCH CONTROL LEVER FAILURE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/7/1983 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | LONG BEACH |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90808 |
| Event Date Year | 1983 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | LOS ALAMITOS AAF |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SLI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1650 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 57 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 800 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 6 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2066 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 25704 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 9:16AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5830T |
| NTSB Number | LAX84AA054 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Westland Helicopters |
| Aircraft Model | 30-100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 30-100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 005 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12350 |
| 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 | 18 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 5 1983 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 558 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRSPUR HELICOPTERS INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 608 FOURTEENTH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | HUNTINGTON BCH |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92648 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 9841 AIRPORT BLVD |
| Operator City | LOS ANGELES |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 90045 |
| 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 | 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 | LAX |
| Departure City | LOS ANGELES |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1645 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SNA |
| Destination City | ORANGE COUNTY |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| 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 | -- |