Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Peach Springs, Arizona 86434
Tuesady, March 3, 2009 10:45 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot heard a loud pop while descending into a canyon and had a loss of main rotor rpm. The pilot entered an autorotation to an open area and landed successfully. Examination of the engine revealed that it was intact and exhibited minimal impact related damage. Disassembly of the engine revealed that the rear bearing support housing was intact and undamaged. The number three bearing was intact, however, did not rotate freely. The inner race and ball bearings exhibited heavy rub marks and thermal damage and the outer race exhibited thermal damage. No oil residue was observed on the bearing components. The damage to the number three bearing was consistent with oil starvation. Debris was observed within the oil scavenge passage of the rear bearing support housing near the oil feed ring assembly. The rear bearing support housing (RBSH) was removed and placed on a flow test bench. The RBSH assembly flowed approximately one-half of the normal oil flow rate and irregular flow patterns were observed. Examination of the RBSH revealed no significant damage; however, the oil passages that feed oil to the number three bearing assembly contained deposits that most likely obstructed oil flow to the bearing. Analysis of the deposited material found that it was composed of coked synthetic oil. Prior to the incident, the engine manufacturer issued an Operating Information Letter that outlined recommended engine shutdown procedures. The two-step process consisted of a two minute idle period prior to shutdown followed after shutdown by motoring the engine with the starter motor for 10 seconds. The Operating Information Letter indicated that not following the procedures could result in coke build up in the number 2 and number 3 bearing oil jets and sump area. The operator reported that company pilots were instructed to comply with the recommended engine idle cool down procedure; however, company policy did not direct pilots to comply with the recommended post shutdown motoring after engine shutdown procedure due to concerns about depletion of oil in the engine oil reservoir. It was not determined if the bearing failure was a direct result of the operator not complying with the complete recommended shutdown procedure outlined by the engine manufacturer.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the failure of the number three engine bearing as a result of oil starvation due to coked oil obstructing the oil passages.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 3/3/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1045 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Peach Springs |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86434 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 355925N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1134859W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 545 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 83 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 52 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 16000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 16000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27059 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA LAX ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 17 2010 1:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N197AE |
| NTSB Number | WPR09IA140 |
| 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 | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | EUROCOPTER |
| Aircraft Model | AS 350 B2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3909 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 6 |
| 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 | Jan 26 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 34 |
| Airframe Hours | 4602 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | XEBEC LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 12515 WILLOWS RD NE STE 200 |
| Aircraft Owner City | KIRKLAND |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98034-8795 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Papillon Airways |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Boulder City |
| Operator State | NV |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 89005 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 61B |
| Departure City | Boulder City |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Grand Canyon |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 16 2010 5:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |