Hiller UH-12E N36MV

Summary

On 2 February 2010 at about 21:20 local time, a Hiller UH-12E registered N36MV, operated by Jeff Streeter Motor Sports Inc, was involved in an accident near Los Banos, California, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 February 2010 at 21:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Los Banos, California, United States

Coordinates

37.0511, -120.9239

Aircraft

Hiller UH-12E

Registration

N36MV

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Jeff Streeter Motor Sports Inc

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Los Banos → Los Banos

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR10LA127

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to a failure of the throttle interconnect hardware, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the helicopter had just completed an aerial application flight and was returning to land. As he approached the landing area, he began to apply power, but the engine did not respond. He continued to twist the throttle, but it felt loose with no resistance and the engine speed did not change. He aborted the landing approach and performed a run-on landing in a field; during the approach the engine speed began to decrease and the helicopter landed hard, causing substantial damage to the tail boom and lower fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the throttle control attach fitting located in the aft section of the collective control had become separated. The nuts and bolts attaching the fitting were not located. The lack of witness marks on the throttle fitting indicates that either the attachment bolt failed or rapidly unscrewed from its associated nut. The disconnection resulted in a loss of engine control and subsequent partial loss of engine power. The last annual inspection occurred 11 months and 250 flight hours prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.