Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Snohomish, Washington 98290
Friday, November 29, 2002 14:50 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that about five minutes after departure, in cruise flight, at 100 knots and 1,000 feet msl, the engine rpm fluctuated with a noticeable engine noise reduction. Subsequently N2 rapidly decelerated and the helicopter yawed to the left. The pilot initiated an autorotation, however, due to heavily wooded terrain, the pilot had to maneuver around obstructions to a landing site. During the maneuver, the helicopter collided with a tree branch which broke the chin bubble. At approximately 100 feet agl, the pilot started the deceleration. Approximately 30 feet agl, the forward airspeed was at or near zero. The helicopter descended faster than the pilot anticipated as he pulled in collective to slow the descent and then a significant amount of collective to cushion the landing. The helicopter landed with more force than normal and the helicopter rolled to the right after landing. The right side fore and aft skid legs collapsed at the mid point of the struts and the helicopter came to rest on its right side. The engine was inspected and subsequently removed for an engine test cell run. During the engine test cell run, the engine was found to be making more than rated horsepower at all points.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power for undetermined reasons while in cruise flight. A tree was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/29/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Snohomish |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98290 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 475729N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220123W |
| 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 | 1453 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 606 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13646 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 29 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1547 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N13SD |
| NTSB Number | SEA03TA014 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | OH-6A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 66-17825 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 22 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 3057 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Snohomish County Sheriff's Office |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3000 Rockefeller Ave. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Everett |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98201 |
| 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 | None |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Snohomish |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1445 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 2 2003 6:04PM |
| 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 | -- |