Bell UH-1B N1385W

Summary

On 8 August 1985 at about 17:15 local time, a Bell UH-1B registered N1385W, operated by Skyline Air Service, Inc., was involved in an accident near Saint James, Louisiana, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

8 August 1985 at 17:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Saint James, Louisiana, United States

Coordinates

29.9770, -90.8289

Aircraft

Bell UH-1B

Registration

N1385W

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Skyline Air Service, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW85FA310

1 person died.

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

ACFT WAS AT A 150' HOVER PREPARING TO PICK UP A LOG WHEN IT EXPERIENCED A POWER LOSS. WITNESSES STATED THAT THEY HEARD A LOUD 'BANG' AND THE PILOT RADIOED 'GET OUT OF THE WAY'. ACFT AUTOROTATED THRU 60' TO 80' TREES WITH VERY LOW ROTOR RPM AND IMPACTED WITH NO HORZ SPEED AND HIGH VERTICAL SPEED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ENG HAD EXPERIENCED SEVERE INTERNAL DAMAGE. FOUR COMPRESSOR BLADES FROM THE 4TH STAGE ROTOR WERE FOUND TO HAVE SUFFERED PROGRESSIVE FATIGUE FAILURE, WHICH IN TURN CAUSED THE REMAINDER OF THE BLADES ON THE 4TH AND 5TH STAGES TO SEPARATE LEADING TO AN ENG SURGE AND LOSS OF POWER. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN A FLT REGIME FROM WHICH THE PLT COULD NOT AFFECT A RECOVERY FROM THE ENG FAILURE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.