Sikorsky S-70A N160LA

Summary

On 4 May 2005 at about 18:45 local time, a Sikorsky S-70A registered N160LA was involved in an accident near Calabasas, California, United States. 3 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

4 May 2005 at 18:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Calabasas, California, United States

Coordinates

34.1500, -118.6500

Aircraft

Sikorsky S-70A

Registration

N160LA

Category

Helicopter

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Public Use

Purpose of flight

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pacoima → Malibu

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX05TA156

Nobody was injured.

fatigue of the forward keeper due to known flaws in the manufacturing process.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The left auxiliary power unit (APU) door departed the helicopter in flight and contacted the main rotor blades. The pilot made precautionary landing. The APU door is located on the top of the helicopter, near the main rotor blades, and it is secured using two upper and lower, push-pin type snap latches. Following the accident, the latches were located separately in a field; each latch remained secured to portions of the door material. The APU door is opened and secured by maintenance daily and its security was verified by the pilot during the preflight. Post accident examination of the two fractured sections of left APU door with latches and the two hinge keepers showed that the hinge keepers failed as a result of fatigue fractures and allowed the door to separate in flight. Review of the manufacturer's process specifications disclosed that the failed hinge keepers were manufactured by a now superceded production process. This superceded production process introduced contamination, which resulted in fatigue of the hinge keepers. A new hinge was designed and implemented over 2 years prior to the accident; however, there was no recall by the helicopter manufacturer to replace the older design. In the United States, two civilian operators use this helicopter (five helicopters total) and the primary operator is the United States military. The United States military has classified this as a low-risk issue. Due to the damage sustained to the parts, the manufacturer was unable to confirm that the problem would have been detectable by flight crew or maintenance personnel prior to the accident flight using the current inspection methods.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.