ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 167520
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| Date: | Tuesday 17 June 2014 |
| Time: | 13:30 |
| Type: |  Eurocopter AS 350BA Ecureuil |
| Owner/operator: | Sunshine Helicopters |
| Registration: | N6094H |
| MSN: | 2694 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1993 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 15269 hours |
| Engine model: | Honeywell LTS 101-600A- |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Kahului, HI -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Kahului, HI (OGG) |
| Kahului, HI (OGG) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial pilot of the helicopter was conducting the third local tour flight of the day when, about 10 minutes after departure, the main rotor speed (rpm) started to decrease and the low rotor warning alarm sounded. The pilot lowered the collective pitch control to increase rotor rpm, and the helicopter started to descend. He then raised the collective pitch control, and the main rotor rpm started to decrease again. The pilot entered an autorotation, and the helicopter landed hard in tall grass, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage and tailboom.
A test run of the engine revealed that, when power was applied, the engine would not achieve a speed above about 78% Ng (engine gas generator speed). Fuel flow indications during the test run were between 125 and 140 pounds per hour (pph); the required value was 300 pph. A leak test of the pneumatic controls revealed that the fitting for the input line to the pneumatic pressure (Pc) filter housing was fractured. A second test run of the engine, following replacement of the Pc filter assembly, was successful. Thus, the fractured fitting rendered the control system incapable of modulating Pc pressure to the fuel control, which resulted in a loss of engine power.
Further examination of the fitting revealed fracture features consistent with fatigue and overload. The Pc filter requires continuous recurring inspections. The filter housing is hard-mounted to the side of the engine plenum and connected to the system via hard pneumatic lines with torqued fittings. Each time that the filter is inspected, the filter housing fittings are subjected to mechanical loosening and re-torqueing. It is likely that the repeated loosening and re-torqueing of the fitting during required maintenance and inspection contributed to the fitting’s failure. Following the accident, the manufacturer issued a service bulletin regarding the service and inspection of Pc filter fittings.
Probable Cause: The failure of the engine’s pneumatic fuel control line fitting, resulting in a loss of engine power. Contributing to the failure was the repeated loosening and re-torqueing of the fitting during required maintenance and inspection.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 21 April 2000 | N6094H | Sunshine Helicopters Inc | 0 | Iao Valley, 7 miles SW of Kahului, Maui, HI | |
sub |
| Bounced on landing | ||||||
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Jun-2014 10:07 | Alpine Flight | Added |
| 23-Sep-2016 17:20 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Location, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 26-Mar-2017 17:35 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 19-Aug-2017 14:00 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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