Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Oxnard Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oxnard, California 93030
Tuesady, November 9, 2004 12:15 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a practice autorotation, the collective down lock engaged, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent and collision with terrain. The pilot and an instructor pilot were conducting the first practice autorotation of a planned series, and the pilot entered the autorotation about 500 feet above ground level. After lowering the collective the pilot kept the collective in the down position until he was in the flare. When the pilot tried to pull up on the collective, it would not move and both pilots saw that the collective down lock had engaged. Both pilots attempted to unlatch the collective, but they were unsuccessful. With the collective locked at flat pitch, the helicopter impacted the ground hard in a level attitude with some forward speed and it rolled over. Post accident investigation revealed the helicopter was equipped with an aftermarket avionics control panel. The collective lever lock is installed on this control panel console; it is a spring steel plate with a hole in it to capture the collective locking tab. The lock also has a rubber grommet below the locking hole to dampen any vibration. With the collective in the full down position, the aftermarket console has about a 1/16-inch clearance between the lock plate and the collective lock tab, while the Eurocopter stock console panel has a 1/2-inch clearance. Exemplar aircraft with both the stock and aftermarket consoles were examined. In some of the aircraft, the grommet was not touching the console. This condition would allow the locking lever to vibrate and also decrease the clearance between the locking plate and the locking tab. This accident is the second known accident where the collective lock has inadvertently engaged in-flight with this particular aftermarket avionics panel installed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadvertent in-flight engagement of the collective down lock, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent and ground impact. The collective down lock engagement was likely due to a combination of the reduced clearance between the lock plate and the collective with this avionics panel design, the collective down lock alignment/adjustment, and the tendency of the flexible lock plate to vibrate with the natural harmonic rhythmus of the helicopter.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Oxnard |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93030 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341159N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191307W |
| Event Location Airport | OXNARD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | OXR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 43 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1150 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OXR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19212 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 9 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1250 |
| 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 | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N655TV |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA020 |
| 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 | American Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | AS350-BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1590 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4630 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 44 |
| Airframe Hours | 3182.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Coastal Helicopters LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 16644 Roscoe Blvd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Van Nuys |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91406 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CMA |
| Departure City | CAMARILLO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | OXR |
| Destination City | OXNARD |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 1 2005 6:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |