Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Los Banos, California 93635
Tuesady, February 2, 2010 13:20 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot of the helicopter had just completed an aerial application flight and was returning to land. As he approached the landing area, he began to apply power, but the engine did not respond. He continued to twist the throttle, but it felt loose with no resistance and the engine speed did not change. He aborted the landing approach and performed a run-on landing in a field; during the approach the engine speed began to decrease and the helicopter landed hard, causing substantial damage to the tail boom and lower fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the throttle control attach fitting located in the aft section of the collective control had become separated. The nuts and bolts attaching the fitting were not located. The lack of witness marks on the throttle fitting indicates that either the attachment bolt failed or rapidly unscrewed from its associated nut. The disconnection resulted in a loss of engine control and subsequent partial loss of engine power. The last annual inspection occurred 11 months and 250 flight hours prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A partial loss of engine power due to a failure of the throttle interconnect hardware, which resulted in a hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/2/2010
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1320
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Los Banos
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 93635
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 370304n
Event Location Longitude 1205526w
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 Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1301 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 55
Weather Observation Facility ID MCE
Elevation of weather observation facility 155
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 28
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
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) 29.83
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) 27204
NTSB Notification Source WPR ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 22 2010 5:41PM
User who most recently changed record coos
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N36MV
NTSB Number WPR10LA127
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name HILLER
Aircraft Model UH-12E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5060
Certified Max Gross Weight 2700
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 25 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 249
Airframe Hours 7064
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name JEFF STREETER MOTOR SPORTS INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City CHOWCHILLA
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 93610-8511
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name JEFF STREETER MOTOR SPORTS INC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City CHOWCHILLA
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 93610-8511
Operator Code JF5G
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
Operator Certificate Number JF5G518K
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 Los Banos
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Los Banos
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 22 2010 5:39PM
User who most recently changed record coos
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 --