Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hapuna Heliport Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kamuela, Hawaii 96743
Saturday, December 27, 2008 15:50 HST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness informed the flight crew that the helicopter "lost a panel" during landing. Inspection of the helicopter revealed that the lower right stabilizer (endplate) separated and was located approximately 70 feet from where the helicopter landed. The endplate was later recovered; however, the two associated attachment bolts were not. Without the bolts, it could not be determined if the attachments were not properly torqued or if the bolts' locking mechanism was no longer serviceable. The operator reported that the endplate was removed approximately 42 flight hours prior to the incident to facilitate a maintenance action on the horizontal stabilizer. Following the maintenance action and inspection, the endplate was reinstalled using the original attachment bolts. The applicable maintenance manual instructions for endplate installation directed maintenance personnel to secure the endplate to the spar tube and torque bolts to a specified value; however, it did not direct maintenance personnel to apply sealing and locking compound to bolt threads prior to installation. Following the incident, the manufacturer issued a mandatory Service Bulletin requiring the inspection of endplate bolts for serviceability and application of thread locking compound.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the endplate bolts for undetermined reasons, resulting in an in-flight separation of the right endplate. Contributing to the accident was the manufacturer's failure to provide sufficient guidance for endplate bolt installation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/27/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1550 |
| Event Time Zone | Hawaii Standard Time |
| Event City | Kamuela |
| Event State | HAWAII |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96743 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 194419N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1560244W |
| Event Location Airport | Hapuna Heliport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Hawaii Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PHKO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | HST |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26254 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Comm center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2009 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N902AF |
| NTSB Number | WPR09IA070 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MD HELICOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | MD 900 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 900-00023 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6250 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 25 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 87 |
| Airframe Hours | 1304 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VULCAN AIRCRAFT INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 505 5TH AVE S STE 900 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEATTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98104-3821 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | VULCAN AIRCRAFT INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 505 5TH AVE S STE 900 |
| Operator City | SEATTLE |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98104-3821 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Kona |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1512 |
| Departure Time Zone | HST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Kamuela |
| Destination State | HI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 23 2009 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |