Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Santa Ana, California
Wednesday, October 6, 1982 10:08 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE COMMERCIAL PLT WAS RATED IN FIXED WING ACFT, BUT IN THE HELICOPTER, HAD STUDENT PRIVILEGES ONLY. HE HAD OBTAINED APRX 37 HRS OF DUAL INSTRUCTION & 3 HRS OF SOLO TIME IN THE ROBINSON R22 HELICOPTER; HOWEVER, 1.3 HRS OF HIS SOLO TIME WAS LIMITED TO HOVER FLT ONLY. HE WAS NOT ENDORSED FOR UNSUPERVISED SOLO ON 10/6/82. HE TOOK OFF ON THE X-COUNTRY FLT TO COMMUTE TO HIS PLACE OF BUSINESS. WHILE EN ROUTE, THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED FLYING LOW & FAST WHEN THE MAIN ROTOR STRUCK THE COCKPIT. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE HELICOPTER WAS FLYING IN LEVEL FLT & THE ENG WAS RUNNING "FLAT OUT" UNTIL THE MAIN ROTOR SYS SEPARATED. THE HELICOPTER THEN ENTERED A STEEP DIVE, CRASHED & BURNED. EXAM OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT MAST BUMPING & SEVERANCE OF THE MAIN ROTOR DRIVE SHAFT HAD OCCURRED. THE EXAM FAILED TO DISCLOSE ANY FAILURE, MALFUNCTION OR ABNORMALITY PRIOR TO THE MAIN ROTOR SEPARATION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/6/1982 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1008 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | SANTA ANA |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1982 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1645 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 338 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SNA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 1 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 65 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 0 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | Unknown |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 3398 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2002 4:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\ZUZL |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8358B |
| NTSB Number | LAX83FUA01 |
| 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 |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ROBINSON |
| Aircraft Model | R22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | R22 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0302 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1300 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Unknown |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 14 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MADISON MANUFACTURED HOUSING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1555 SO. CUCAMONQA AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | ONTARIO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | THOMAS ANTHONY BALLAS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 25 NARBONNE |
| Operator City | NEWPORT BEACH |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 92660 |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | SANTA ANA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1001 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | ONTARIO |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 18 2002 4:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |