Bell 206L-1 N1077N

Summary

On 15 February 1994 at about 02:02 local time, a Bell 206L-1 registered N1077N was involved in an accident near Barstow, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 February 1994 at 02:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Barstow, California, United States

Nearest airport

Barstow Dagget (DAG)

Coordinates

34.8596, -116.8105

Aircraft

Bell 206L-1

Registration

N1077N

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

LAX94LA126

1 person was seriously injured.

the pilot's misjudgment of the landing flare altitude during a night autorotation while preoccupied with maintaining proper main rotor rpm. A factor in the accident was the pilot's visual perception which was affected by the outside ambient lighting conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot intended to do several autorotations at the end of his daily flights to verify a new clutch assembly which was installed on the helicopter that morning. The pilot said that it was twilight, but that he could clearly see the runway lights when he lifted off to do the autorotations. The pilot made one successful autorotation and decided on a second one to check the main rotor rpm. The pilot said that during the second one the main rotor rpm was low, but he did not get a low rotor warning horn or light. The pilot said that during the descent he was trying to bring the main rotor rpm up by varying his airspeed until the flare point. Witnesses reported that the helicopter began a flare about 50 feet above the runway, then landed hard. The helicopter became airborne again, began to spin, and then landed hard, rolling onto its left side. No evidence of mechanical failure was found during an examination of the helicopter. Sunset occurred at 1733 and the end of civil twilight was at 1759. The accident was at 1802.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.