ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 296031
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 7 April 2003 |
| Time: | 08:05 LT |
| Type: |  Hughes 369D |
| Owner/operator: | Olympic Air, Inc. |
| Registration: | N5225C |
| MSN: | 590497D |
| Year of manufacture: | 1979 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 11325 hours |
| Engine model: | Allison 250-C20B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Taholah, Washington -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Central Park, WA |
| Taholah, WA | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot of the Hughes 369D helicopter had been engaged in logging operations for about an hour when the engine flamed out, and he executed a hard landing to a nearby road. Post-crash examination found no fuel within the fuel tank, and the fuel quantity sending float entangled in the unsecured start pump wiring preventing the float from registering anything less than about 120 pounds of fuel (about 60 pounds above the Low Fuel Warning light activation setting). The helicopter had undergone a 100-hour inspection just before the accident flight during which the fuel quantity sending unit had been replaced. The maintenance manual contained procedures including a caution to secure the start pump wiring to prevent entanglement with the float, but this caution was addressed only in the start pump replacement procedure of the manual and not included in the fuel quantity sending unit replacement procedures.
Probable Cause: The entanglement of the fuel quantity sender float in the start pump wiring within the fuel tank as a result of the wiring not being properly secured. This rendered the fuel gauge inaccurate and the low fuel warning light inoperative which led to fuel exhaustion. The improper securing of the wiring was a result of unspecified maintenance personnel not identifying the unsecured condition. Contributing factors were the lack of adequate guidance in the maintenance manuals on inspection of the wiring and the low rotor RPM during the autorotation resulting in a hard landing.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB SEA03LA058
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 16 November 1996 | N5225C | Eagle Air Helicopters,inc | 0 | Forks, WA | |
sub |
| 22 July 2014 | N5225C | Olympic Air Inc | 0 | near Oso, Washington | |
sub |
| Loss of control | ||||||
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 13-Oct-2022 15:43 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation