Hughes 269C N56PH

Summary

On 10 July 2004 at about 03:10 local time, a Hughes 269C registered N56PH was involved in an accident near Arlington, Washington, 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

10 July 2004 at 03:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Arlington, Washington, United States

Coordinates

48.3850, -122.2517

Aircraft

Hughes 269C

Registration

N56PH

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bellingham → Arlington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA04LA128

Nobody was injured.

A significant power loss for undetermined reasons while in cruise flight, leading to a full autorotational landing. Factors include no suitable terrain in the area, and soft swampy terrain at the point where the pilot found it necessary to perform the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While cruising at about 2,500 feet above the ground (agl), the pilot heard a "pop" and felt the helicopter yaw to the right. Almost immediately he noticed that the engine was starting to lose power, and he therefore lowered the collective and initiated a partial autorotation. He then attempted to get the engine to accelerate, but he continued to hear "sputtering and popping," and the engine continued to gradually lose power. The pilot therefore elected to perform a full autorotational landing in a nearby opening in the heavily wooded area he was flying over. Although he was able to touch down with only a very slow forward speed, the terrain he was landing on turned out to be a wet and muddy bog or swamp, and as the helicopter touched down, one of the skids sunk into the mud, and the aircraft rolled over onto its side. A post-accident inspection of the helicopter's engine and fuel system by an FAA Airworthiness Inspector and a fixed base operator's (FBO's) maintenance personnel did not find any evidence of an anomaly that would have lead to a loss of power in the engine. After the initial inspection was completed, the engine was mounted on an engine stand and run at various speeds for a period of about eight minutes. During the test run, the engine started easily and ran smooth at all tested speeds up to and including a maximum of 3,100 rpm.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.