Hiller UH-12E N9785C

Summary

On 26 April 2004 at about 23:00 local time, a Hiller UH-12E registered N9785C was involved in an accident near Haines, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 April 2004 at 23:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Haines, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

44.8742, -117.9939

Aircraft

Hiller UH-12E

Registration

N9785C

Category

Helicopter

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Elgin → Haines

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA04LA073

1 person had minor injuries.

A momentary partial loss of power for undetermined reason(s) and the pilot's failure to maintain adequate RPM during his autorotation landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was descending through about 100 feet above the ground at 60 knots airspeed on approach to landing when he heard a loud bang. He immediately transitioned into an autorotation but as he flared prior to touchdown he had insufficient rotor RPM and the helicopter landed hard with the main rotor blades severing the tailboom. The pilot reported that as the helicopter impacted the ground he noted the Rolls Royce (Allison) 250-C20B engine spooling up. He also stated that he did not hear any audible engine out alert during the entire sequence and that the helicopter was not equipped with an auto-relight system. A post-crash test run of the engine revealed no abnormalities. The height-velocity diagram for the helicopter indicated that a successful auto-rotation could be accomplished at an elevation of 100 feet for airspeeds of 41 knots and above.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.