Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lytle Creek, California 92358
Friday, August 30, 2002 10:06 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter collided with terrain while attempting a precautionary landing due to a hydraulics system failure. The helicopter was engaged in firefighting water drops. While returning to pickup additional fuel, and make bucket repairs, the red hydraulic failure light illuminated and the flight controls became stiff. About 10 feet above the ground, the cyclic flight control moved "hard over," which resulted in the nose moving up and to the right until the main rotor blades contacted the ground. The helicopter came to rest on its right side. Post crash examination by a laboratory revealed contamination of the hydraulic fluid by water and microbial growth.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the hydraulic system due to contamination in the hydraulic fluid, which resulted in an in-flight loss of control.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/30/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1006
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City LYTLE CREEK
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92358
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 341406N
Event Location Longitude 1172949W
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 953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 10
Weather Observation Facility ID KONT
Elevation of weather observation facility 944
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14734
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 30 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1106
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 5 2004 4:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-RAL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N747A
NTSB Number LAX02TA267
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Sikorsky
Aircraft Model S-55T
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 55-910
Certified Max Gross Weight 7200
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 11
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 20 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 74.7
Airframe Hours 12689
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Central Sierra Helicopters
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1328 Hwy 49 N.
Aircraft Owner City MARIPOSA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95338
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 --
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation External Load
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) Public Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City LYTLE CREEK
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 810
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 Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 5:05PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
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 --