Jonas EXEC 90 N6183P

Summary

On 12 August 1996 at about 15:35 local time, a Jonas EXEC 90 registered N6183P was involved in an accident near Hermiston, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 August 1996 at 15:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Hermiston, Oregon, United States

Nearest airport

Hermiston (S22)

Coordinates

45.8508, -119.2100

Aircraft

Jonas EXEC 90

Registration

N6183P

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA96LA188

1 person had minor injuries.

slippage of the drive belts, while hover taxiing in ground effect, which resulted in loss of power to the rotor system; and inadequate remedial action by the pilot, which led to a roll over during touch down (forced landing). A factor relating to the accident was: inadequate maintenance and/or inspection of the drive belts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he was practicing hovering and turns at an altitude of 10 feet, and was moving forward at about 5 mph, when power to the main rotor was lost due to slippage of the drive belts. He stated that he heard a sound like a rock hitting the fuselage, then the engine rpm increased from its rated rpm of 4,250 to 4,700. During recovery, the pilot pulled collective and used right cyclic to level out and maintain altitude. The helicopter slowed its descent and almost leveled out, but landed on the skids with a slight left drift. The helicopter rolled over after ground contact. The pilot held limited solo privileges for helicopters. He had first soloed a helicopter about three months before the accident and had a total of 17.2 hours of rotorcraft time. He stated that before the accident, he had just flown the helicopter for about one hour, then landed and checked the aircraft for 'tensions etc [sic]' before taking off again. According to operation and maintenance instructions furnished by RotorWay International, the main rotor drive belt tension should be checked and adjusted at new belt installation and at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 10 hours of service (to prevent slippage). The aircraft and engine logbook copies submitted by the pilot contained no documentation of any checks or adjustments to the drive belt tensions after new belt installation on 7/10/96.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.