Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hilo, Hawaii 96720
Saturday, September 29, 2001 14:23 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot made a mayday call, shut off the fuel valve, and performed an autorotation into high grass after the single engine helicopter experienced a loss of engine power shortly after takeoff. The pilot had heard a bang followed by illumination of the engine out warning light, and the engine began smoking. During the terminal phase of the autorotation, the pilot assumed the grass height was 3 feet and flared accordingly; however, the grass was at least 6 feet tall. Post-accident examination of the engine revealed that the No. 1 turbine wheel was missing. The No. 8 bearing thrust nut exhibited a locking indentation and a notch on its inside surface. Additionally, indentations were on the threads of the threaded end of the first stage turbine wheel shaft. These marks suggest that the thrust nut was not fully engaged on the first stage turbine shaft. The location of the notch suggests that the edge of the nut protruded beyond the end of the turbine shaft. There were no indications of contact by the shaft threads on the inner surface of the deformed area to suggest that it had been displaced into a groove on the first stage turbine shaft. Review of the maintenance records and interviews with the mechanic, who performed the most recent maintenance work, revealed that the turbine section had been replaced approximately 30 hours prior to the accident. Due to excessive oil consumption, maintenance personnel removed the turbine and replaced the No. 5 carbon seal approximately 14 hours prior to the accident. The maintenance records indicated that the day before the accident, the sump cover had been removed for trouble shooting oil consumption. Though it is not detailed in the maintenance entry, it is interpreted that the "sump cover" referred to is the No. 8 Bearing sump nut since the thrust nut was loose.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the mechanic to secure the No. 8 bearing thrust nut during maintenance work, which resulted in the total failure of the first stage turbine wheel shaft. Also causal was his misjudgment of his height during the flare resulting in a hard landing. A contributing factor was the high vegetation in the forced landing field, which resulted in a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1423 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Hilo |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96720 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 193826N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1520205W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHTO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 38 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15529 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 29 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1752 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-HNL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N206KS |
| NTSB Number | LAX01FA306 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2457 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 20 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5441.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 5456.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | K&S Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Main Airport Terminal |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hilo |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96720 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | K2DA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ITO |
| Departure City | HILO |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 23 2004 4:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |