Hiller UH12E N5374V

Summary

On 27 April 1986 at about 12:30 local time, a Hiller UH12E registered N5374V, operated by Douglas E. Walker, was involved in an accident near Castroville, California, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

27 April 1986 at 12:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Castroville, California, United States

Nearest airport

Salinas (SNS)

Coordinates

36.7594, -121.7498

Aircraft

Hiller UH12E

Registration

N5374V

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Douglas E. Walker

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Castroville → Salinas

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX86FVM05

1 person had minor injuries.

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 ACFT LANDED HARD AND ROLLED OVER AFTER THE LNDG SKID FAILED IN A FORCED LNDG. THE PLT SAID HE WAS CRUSING AT 500 FT AGL OVER AN OPEN FIELD WHEN HE HEARD A LOUD BANG. THE HELICOPTER BEGAN TO VIBRATE SEVERELY AND SPIRAL TO THE RIGHT. THE PLT LOST GROUND REFERENCE IN THE PRE-DAWN DARKNESS WHEN HE TURNED ON THE LIGHTS. NOT WANTING TO LAND TOO HARD HE ELECTED TO LEAVE THE ENG RUNNING AND NOT AUTO-ROTATE. INVESTIGATION INDICATED THAT ONE TAIL ROTOR BLADE HAD SEPARATED AT THE TENSION TORSION STRAP ATTACH BOLT HOLE. THIS IS THE TRANSITION AREA WHERE THE BLADE ROOT CASTING AND SHEET METAL BLADE SKIN ARE JOINED. THE FRACTURE SURFACE OF THE CASTING APPEARED TO BE OVERLOADED WITH NO APPARENT INDICATION OF FATIGUE. THE OUTBOARD BLADE SECTION SHOWED NO INDICATION OF FOREIGN OBJECT CONTACT. ALL COMPONENTS OF THE HELICOPTER WERE LOCATED IN THE IMPACT AREA EXCEPT ONE TAIL ROTOR BLADE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.