Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Goshen, Oregon 97405
Monday, April 22, 2002 11:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight the engine experienced a total loss of power in the Hiller UH-12E rotorcraft. In an attempt to avoid a water landing he maneuvered over trees and then ran out of rotor RPM landing hard. Post crash examination revealed that the left hand exhaust stack tube inside the cylindrical stainless steel heat muffler was cracked and separated circumferentially in the vicinity of an old weld. The left side muffler was dedicated exclusively to providing engine heated air for carburetor heat application. The exhaust stack tube was observed to be thin and heat distorted and the circumferential split was noted to be in the vicinity of an old weld. The split in the tube allowed hot engine exhaust to duct directly to the carburetor via the carburetor heat plenum. Additionally, the carburetor heat valve within the plenum to the carburetor was found to be out of rig such that when carburetor heat was fully de-selected in the cockpit (FULL COLD), engine heated air was still partially flowing to the carburetor intake. A 100-hour inspection had been completed and signed off by company maintenance personnel 19.8 hours previous to the accident. Appendix D to Part 43 of the Federal Aviation Regulations requires each person performing an annual or 100-hours inspection to inspect (where applicable) components of the engine and nacelle group including exhaust stacks - for cracks, defects, and improper attachment.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of company maintenance personnel to identify and replace/repair the degraded exhaust stack. Contributing factors were the mis-rigged carburetor heat control and the pilot's failure to maintain appropriate rotor RPM. Additional contributing factors were trees and water.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/22/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Goshen |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97405 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 440100N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1230118W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1127 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 280 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EUG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13263 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 22 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1205 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Hillsboro FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3004T |
| NTSB Number | SEA02LA073 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hiller |
| Aircraft Model | UH-12E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 5012 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3150 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 10 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 4114.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stevenson, Philip R. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Haines |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97833 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Sundance Helicopters, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | SD7A |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | EUG |
| Departure City | Eugene |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 77S |
| Destination City | Creswell |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 11 2003 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |