Hughes 500 N8690F

Summary

On 2 March 1982 at about 16:05 local time, a Hughes 500 registered N8690F, operated by Evirogas, Inc., was involved in an accident near Little Valley, New York, United States. 4 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

2 March 1982 at 16:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Little Valley, New York, United States

Coordinates

42.2401, -78.7890

Aircraft

Hughes 500

Registration

N8690F

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Evirogas, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ellicottville → Mayville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC82DFJ11

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

ABOUT 10 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF IN HEAVY, WET, BLOWING SNOW, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. AT THAT TIME, THE HELICOPTER WAS AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL. AT THE FIRST INDICATION OF A POWER LOSS, THE PILOT INITIATED AND COMPLETED AN AUTOROTATIVE LANDING IN AN OPEN FIELD. DURING TOUCHDOWN, THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES FLEXED DOWNWARD AND STRUCK THE TAIL BOOM. THE AUTO REIGNITION FUNCTIONED AND THE ENGINE WAS OPERATING AT THE TIME OF LANDING. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE PARTICLE SEPARATOR HAD BECOME COMPLETELY CLOGGED WITH SNOW. THE PILOT DID NOT RECEIVE ADVANCE WARNING FROM THE PARTICLE SEPARATOR DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE SENSOR AND COCKPIT WARNING LIGHT SYSTEM. THEREFORE, HE DID NOT MANUALLY RELEASE THE PARTICLE SEPARATOR BYPASS DOOR PRIOR TO THE ENGINE FLAME-OUT.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.