Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Palmdale, California 93550
Thursday, May 20, 2004 13:05 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was performing an aerial filming operation when he heard a bang, perceived a loss of engine power, and made an autorotative landing, which resulted in a rollover. The helicopter was heading in a southerly direction, at 200 feet above ground level (agl) and at 80 knots, in a left-hand turn, when the pilot heard a bang and felt a loss of engine power. He entered an autorotation and maneuvered the helicopter towards an open field. He checked for engine power by pulling up on the collective as he descended and did not feel any power, however, he did not check his engine instruments to verify the loss of engine power. The pilot flared the helicopter and landed hard, then it rolled over on its right side. Examination of the wreckage found evidence of driving torsional deformation in the forward short shaft (engine oil cooler/tail rotor drive shaft). The flight control push-pull tubes and bell cranks were traced and continuity was established. The helicopter's fuel boost pump was energized and 27 gallons of fuel was successfully pumped up to the airframe fuel filter and deposited in to a 50-gallon fuel drum. Main transmission gearbox and tail rotor gearbox magnetic chip detectors were removed and examined for debris. None were found and both transmissions operated smoothly. The engine was removed from the helicopter and installed in an instrumented test cell. Once started, the engine successfully produced 459 ft-lb of torque. It was then set at flight idle and jam accelerated to max power. No surging or popping of the engine was noticed during the jam acceleration, and the turbine speeds and engine temperatures quickly stabilized. This test was performed two times with similar results. The engine operated in the test cell continuously for 1 hour 15 minutes.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The momentary loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/20/2004
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1305
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Palmdale
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93550
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 343520N
Event Location Longitude 1180017W
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 1253 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID KPMD
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 19
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 25
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.97
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19009
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 20 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1325
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2006 7:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO, Van Nuys, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2019F
NTSB Number LAX04LA216
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Bell
Aircraft Model 206L-3
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 51032
Certified Max Gross Weight 4150
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 7
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Apr 4 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 38.5
Airframe Hours 9000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name MK Construction
Aircraft Owner Street Address 12450 Ventura Blvd
Aircraft Owner City Shermon Oaks
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91423
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Orbic Helicopters
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 16700 Roscoe Blvd
Operator City Van Nuys
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 91406
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KVNY
Departure City Van Nuys
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 910
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Palmdale
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 9 2014 12:55PM
User who most recently changed record broda
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --