Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kahului Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hana, Hawaii 96713
Tuesady, January 10, 2006 8:45 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While flying a sightseeing tour over a dense tropical forest the helicopter experienced a total loss of engine power and autorotated into the forest canopy. Forty-four minutes into a 1-hour sightseeing tour the helicopter vibrated, shuddered, and the low rotor rpm warning horn sounded. The pilot entered an autorotation and tried to arrest the helicopter's forward velocity before settling into the treetops. The helicopter dropped nose first towards the forest floor, and came to rest on its right side suspended in the trees a few feet from the ground. During the subsequent engine examination it was determined that a turbine blade from the second stage gas producer turbine had separated from the turbine wheel. A material laboratory analysis determined that the turbine blade failure was a result of a fatigue fracture that was initiated at a corrosion/oxidation pit. As a result of the investigation into the engine failure, the engine manufacturer has reduced the life limit of the second stage turbine blades from 6,000 hours to 3,000 hours, and implemented additional turbine inspection criteria.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to a fatigue failure of a turbine blade. A factor in the accident was the lack of a suitable forced landing site.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/10/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 845 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Hana |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96713 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 204100N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1560600W |
| Event Location Airport | Kahului |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KOGG |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 28 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 45 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1858 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 33 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHHN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21620 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 10 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-Honolulu, HI |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3607P |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA072 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter |
| Aircraft Model | AS350BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1249 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 14007 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sunshine Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 107 Kahului Heliport |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kahului |
| Aircraft Owner State | HI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 96732 |
| 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 | SSHA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KOGG |
| Departure City | Kahului |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 807 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2007 2:19PM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |