Accident Aérospatiale AS 350D N141EH,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 134554
 
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Date:Monday 11 July 1983
Time:16:23
Type:Silhouette image of generic AS50 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Aérospatiale AS 350D
Owner/operator:Era Helicopters Inc
Registration: N141EH
MSN: 1460
Total airframe hrs:813 hours
Engine model:LYCOMING LTS-101-600A2
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Category:Accident
Location:Unalaska Airport, Dutch Harbor, Amaknak Island, Aleutians, AK -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:External load operation
Departure airport:Unalaska Airport, Alaska (DUT/PADU)
Destination airport:Unalaska Airport, Alaska (DUT/PADU)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources
Narrative:
APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PILOT & PASSENGERS HEARD A LOUD MUFFLED BOOM FROM BEHIND THE FIREWALL, THEN THE ROTOR RPM BEGAN TO DECAY. THE PILOT ENTERED AN AUTOROTATION & SELECTED A LANDING AREA. HE NOTED THAT THE ENGINE WAS NOT DRIVING THE ROTOR SYSTEM, SO HE SHUT IT DOWN TO REDUCE THE POSSIBILITY OF FIRE WHILE LANDING. DURING AN EMERGENCY LANDING ON SLOPING, MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, THE HELICOPTER ROLLED OVER, AND SUBSEQUENTLY, IT CAME TO REST IN A RAVINE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SLOPE.

A TEARDOWN OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT THE #3 BEARING, PN 4-301-051-02, HAD FAILED & THAT THE OIL JET FOR THE BEARING WAS CLOGGED. REPORTEDLY, MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL WERE AWARE THAT A DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE CHECK, TO DETECT CLOGGING TO THE #2 & #3 PACKAGED OIL JETS, WAS 7 TO 8 PSI. THIS WAS 2 TO 3 PSI TOO HIGH & INDICATED CLOGGING OF THE OIL JETS. (THIS PROCEDURE WAS OUTLINED IN LYCOMING SVC BULLETIN LTS101A-17-0014). HOWEVER, THE DISCREPANCY WAS NOT ENTERED IN THE ENG MAINTENANCE LOGS.

Sources:

1, NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001214X43555&key=1
2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=141EH
3. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/34963/
4. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=11583
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unalaska_Airport

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
27-Jun-2014 19:16 Dr. John Smith Updated [Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
21-Dec-2016 19:26 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]
17-Jun-2023 05:45 Ron Averes Updated [[Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency]]

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