ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 21599
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| Date: | Saturday 14 June 2008 |
| Time: | 19:00 |
| Type: |  Robinson R44 Raven II |
| Owner/operator: | Adventure Helicopter Tours |
| Registration: | N168AG |
| MSN: | 10938 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2005 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 973 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Topanga Canyon, Topanga, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles, California (WHP/KWHP) |
| Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles, California (WHP/KWHP) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On June 14, 2008, about 19:00 PDT (Pacific Daylight Time), a Robinson R44 II helicopter, N168AG, sustained substantial damage when it rolled over during a forced landing in Topanga Canyon, Topanga, California. The airline transport pilot and the two passengers received minor injuries. The helicopter was operated by Adventure Helicopter Tours, Los Angeles, California, as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 sightseeing flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed Whiteman Airport, Los Angeles, about 18:45 PDT.
The pilot reported that the flight departed Whiteman Airport and headed towards the coast. About 15 minutes into the flight, he heard a "huge bang," and the helicopter began to rotate to the right. He entered an autorotation and aimed for a trail. As he flared the helicopter and pulled up on the collective to terminate the autorotation, the helicopter again began to rotate to the right. The helicopter impacted the trail and rolled over coming to rest on its right side.
The helicopter was examined at the accident site by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and after its recovery to the operator's hangar by the National Transporation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) and representatives of Robinson Helicopter Company. The fuselage was dented, deformed, and scratched. The main rotor blades remained attached to the rotor hub and were bent and buckled. The tail boom was separated into three sections: a forward section, measuring about 3 feet long, which remained attached to the fuselage; a middle section, measuring about 10 feet long; and an aft section, consisting of about 4 inches of tail boom with the horizontal and vertical stabilizers attached, but missing the tail rotor gear box and tail rotor hub and blade assembly. The middle section of tail boom was found with the fuselage and remained partially attached by wires. The aft section of tail boom was found about 70 feet from the fuselage. There was no evidence of main rotor contact with the tail boom.
Probable Cause: The in-flight separation of the tail rotor gear box for an undetermined reason. Contributing to the accident was the hilly terrain, which was unsuitable for a forced landing.
Additional: A lawsuit was taken out by the relatives of the passengers for damages and injuries sustained. The settlement awarded was for $1.3 million (see link #5)
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
2. FAA Registration: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?omni=Home-N-Number&nNumberTxt=N168AG
3. https://uk.flightaware.com/resources/registration/N168AG
4. http://aviationweek.com/awin/three-suffer-minor-injuries-robinson-sightseeing-crash
5. http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1706_settlement_2.pdf
6. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001132257.html
7. http://www.griffin-helicopters.co.uk/accidentdetails.aspx?accidentkey=49482
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Jul-2008 12:02 | Fusko | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:14 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:16 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:20 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 03-Dec-2017 11:22 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 02-Nov-2018 02:18 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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