Aerospatiale AS350-BH N532BH

Summary

On 13 October 2000 at about 18:45 local time, a Aerospatiale AS350-BH registered N532BH, operated by Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, was involved in an accident near Hilo, Hawaii, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 October 2000 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Hilo, Hawaii, United States

Nearest airport

Hilo International (ITO)

Coordinates

19.6893, -155.0805

Aircraft

Aerospatiale AS350-BH

Registration

N532BH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Blue Hawaiian Helicopters

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01LA016

Nobody was injured.

Inadequate maintenance by the helicopter manufacturer during manufacture, which installed skins of inadequate thickness on the tail boom. A factor in the accident was the failure of the manufacturer's quality control system to detect the inadequate thickness.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The tail boom of the helicopter bent downward during landing following a practice hovering autorotation. The pilot reported that the accident occurred following their third hovering autorotation landing. He said that the touchdown was acceptable and would have met check ride criteria. About 2 seconds after touchdown there was "an obvious component failure" felt throughout the airframe, accompanied by severe vibrations and "audible and physical indications" of failure. After exiting the aircraft, the pilot expected to find a problem in the main rotor head and was surprised to find the tail boom bent downward at the midpoint. A postaccident examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail boom was fabricated from skins of thickness 0.025 inches, as opposed to a skin thickness of 0.032 inches identified in the structural repair manual. The helicopter records showed that the tail boom was originally installed on the (new) helicopter at the factory and had acquired 14,053 hours in service.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.