Hughes 269A N8801F

Summary

On 2 August 1982 at about 12:45 local time, a Hughes 269A registered N8801F, operated by John H. Johnston, was involved in an accident near Wetumpka, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

2 August 1982 at 12:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Wetumpka, Alabama, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Hughes 269A

Registration

N8801F

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

John H. Johnston

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Wetumpka → Wetumpka

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL82DA226

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

THE PILOT REPORTED THAT AT THE END OF A SPRAY RUN, THE ENGINE LOST POWER. HE STATED THAT THE ENGINE RPM DROPPED TO ZERO, THE AIRSPEED WAS ZERO, AND HE ESTABLISHED AN AUTOROTATION. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, THE HELICOPTER TOUCHED DOWN ON ROUGH HILLY TERRAIN, BOUNCED AND ROLLED OVER ON ITS RIGHT SIDE. LATER, WHEN THE AIRCRAFT WAS RECOVERED, A CRACK WAS FOUND IN THE FUEL SERVO UNIT ADJACENT TO THE MIXTURE ADJUSTMENT. REPORTEDLY, THIS CRACK WOULD HAVE ADMITTED EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF AIR INTO THE SERVO UNIT AND WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A LOSS OF POWER.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.