ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 385346
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| Date: | Friday 13 October 2000 |
| Time: | 08:45 LT |
| Type: |  Aerospatiale AS350-BH |
| Owner/operator: | Blue Hawaiian Helicopters |
| Registration: | N532BH |
| MSN: | 2494 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1991 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 14053 hours |
| Engine model: | Turbomeca ARRIEL 1B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Hilo, HI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | , HI (KITO) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The tail boom of the helicopter bent downward during landing following a practice hovering autorotation. The pilot reported that the accident occurred following their third hovering autorotation landing. He said that the touchdown was acceptable and would have met check ride criteria. About 2 seconds after touchdown there was "an obvious component failure" felt throughout the airframe, accompanied by severe vibrations and "audible and physical indications" of failure. After exiting the aircraft, the pilot expected to find a problem in the main rotor head and was surprised to find the tail boom bent downward at the midpoint. A postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail boom was fabricated from skins of thickness 0.025 inches, as opposed to a skin thickness of 0.032 inches identified in the structural repair manual. The helicopter records showed that the tail boom was originally installed on the (new) helicopter at the factory and had acquired 14,053 hours in service.
Probable Cause: Inadequate maintenance by the helicopter manufacturer during manufacture, which installed skins of inadequate thickness on the tail boom. A factor in the accident was the failure of the manufacturer's quality control system to detect the inadequate thickness.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB LAX01LA016
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 6 April 2006 | N209CH | Coastal Helicopters Inc. | 0 | Haines, Alaska | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Apr-2024 17:34 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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