Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Off Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Biggs, California 95917
Tuesady, June 12, 2007 8:05 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
As the helicopter lifted off from the top of a chemical truck the pilot heard a faint whining sound, which got louder and then abruptly stopped when the helicopter had cleared the truck. After the whining stopped, the helicopter flight controls locked up, but despite the restriction the pilot managed to pull a small amount of aft cyclic to help the helicopter settle to the ground. On touchdown the helicopter drifted to the right, then skidded across the ground before experiencing a dynamic rollover. The pilot reported that the hydraulic pump, which supplies hydraulic power to the flight control system servos, failed. A postaccident examination of the hydraulic pump, which sustained impact damage as result of the accident sequence, failed to reveal why the pump had failed. An FAA inspector reported that the hydraulic pump had been removed from a salvaged helicopter in 2000, and had not been used prior to being installed on the accident aircraft, about a month and a half before the accident. The inspector also reported that the pump's condition was unknown and that it was never tested prior to being installed on the helicopter.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of control during hover for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/12/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 805 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Biggs |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95917 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392457N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1214122W |
| Event Location Airport | Off 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 165 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MYV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 62 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22312 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 12 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Sacramento, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2087S |
| NTSB Number | SEA07LA154 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | UH-1B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 63-8512 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 156.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 8105.5 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jones Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Williams |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95987 |
| 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 | Williams |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95987 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Biggs |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 805 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Biggs |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Hover - out of ground effect |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2008 7:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| 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 | -- |