Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

League City, Texas 77573
Friday, May 28, 2004 9:35 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

"THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED MAY 30, 2006." The 13,800-hour airline transport pilot and five passengers departed on a short pleasure flight after satisfactorily completing a maintenance check with the engines running on the ground. The pilot flew to a local airport and made a normal straight-in approach, executed an autorotation with a power recovery, then proceeded back to the home airport. While en route, after the helicopter crossed over a large row of power lines, the pilot reported the helicopter lost all engine power. However, none of the anticipated aural warnings, annuciator lights, abnormal vibrations or sounds associated with a power failure was observed. The pilot entered an autorotation and the helicopter contacted the ground hard and rolled over. Examination of the helicopter revealed continuity to all flight controls and the main gearbox. The #1 engine was placed on a test cell, started immediately, and was run at various power settings without interruption. Due to impact damage the #2 engine could not be test-run. Examination of the #1 and #2 engines' main gearbox coupling shafts by an NTSB Materials Specialist revealed that the shafts were both fractured at the reduced section adjacent to the main gear box input splines. The fracture plane, presence of dimpling, and direction of fracture were consistent with ductile torsional overstress with the engines running. In addition, data retrieved from the digital engine control units and damage to the main gear drive shafts indicated that both engines were operating at the time of impact. No mechanical deficiencies were noted that would have attributed to a loss of power on either engine. Several attempts were made to obtain a copy of NTSB Form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Accident Report; however, the pilot failed to submit a completed report.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

"THIS CASE WAS MODIFIED MAY 30, 2006." The pilot's misjudged flare during an autorotation, which resulted in a hard landing and subsequent rollover.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/28/2004
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 935
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City League City
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77573
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 293110N
Event Location Longitude 0951419W
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 915 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 275
Weather Observation Facility ID HOU
Elevation of weather observation facility 46
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 16000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 24
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.89
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 4
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19184
NTSB Notification Source NTSB CC
NTSB Notification Date May 28 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2006 12:35PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Houston FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N355CV
NTSB Number FTW04FA143
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Eurocopter
Aircraft Model AS355N
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5569
Certified Max Gross Weight 3350
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Landry's Seafood
Aircraft Owner Street Address 8501 Telephone Road
Aircraft Owner City Houston
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77061
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LVJ
Departure City Pearland
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 920
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HOU
Destination City Houston
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 15 2005 3:15PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --