Westland WG30 N5840T

Summary

On 5 November 1984 at about 05:45 local time, a Westland WG30 registered N5840T, operated by Evergreen Helicopters of AK, was involved in an incident near Santa Ana, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

5 November 1984 at 05:45

Classification

Incident

Location

Santa Ana, California, United States

Nearest airport

John Wayne (SNA)

Coordinates

33.7094, -117.8705

Aircraft

Westland WG30

Registration

N5840T

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Evergreen Helicopters of AK

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Ana → Los Angeles

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX85IA040

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

DURING A CLIMB TO CRUISE, THE CREW EXPERIENCED CONTROL DIFFICULTIES WHEN THE FOR-&-AFT TRIM ACTUATOR BEGAN TO MOTOR FORWARD AND WOULD NOT STOP. AN EMERG DESCENT WAS MADE WITH BOTH PLTS EXERTING AFT CYCLIC PRESSURE TO PREVENT THE SPEED FROM INCREASING OVER 120 KTS. THE ACFT RETURNED SUCCESSFULLY TO THE DEPARTURE ARPT. ALL GAGES INDICATED NORMAL AND NO WARNING LIGHTS WERE OBSERVED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED A FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE FB 10 ELECTRICAL RELAY AND SUBSEQUENT FOULING OF THE CONTACT OPERATION BY A BROKEN FRAGMENT. THE RELAY SPRING FAILED FROM FATIGUE, INITIATED AS MICRO CRACKS WHICH RESULTED FROM COLD FORMING BENDING AND SUBSEQUENT STRAIGHTENING PROCESS DURING MANUFACTURE.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.