LAX94FA106 · Sikorsky S-58
Air One Helicopters Sikorsky S-58 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) while maneuvering
From Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) to Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX94FA106
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 1 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Sikorsky S-58
- Aircraft type
- Sikorsky S-58
- Category
- Helicopter
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N4995G
- Operator
- Air One Helicopters
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)To Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Maneuvering · hover
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Fuel starvation
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Fluid, fuel › Starvation
- Pilot in command › Fuel supply, inadequate
- Pilot in command › Preflight planning/preparation, inadequate
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE PILOT WAS CONDUCTING AN EXTERNAL LOAD OPERATION ABOUT 1-1/2 MILES FROM THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT. AFTER FINISHING A LIFT, THE HELICOPTER WAS HOVERING AT ABOUT 100 FEET OVER A 13-STORY BUILDING. WITNESSES HEARD THE ENGINES SPOOL DOWN AND SAW THE ROTOR BLADES SLOWING. THE HELICOPTER DESCENDED ONTO A TWO-LEVEL PENTHOUSE ON THE BUILDING ROOF AND ROLLED ONTO ITS RIGHT SIDE. A PARKING LOT ADJACENT TO THE BUILDING HAD BEEN SELECTED BY THE COMPANY AS A LANDING AREA IN AN FAA-APPROVED LIFT PLAN, BUT OBSTRUCTIONS PREVENTED ITS USE. THE HELICOPTER, COMPRISED PRIMARILY OF MAGNESIUM, WAS CONSUMED BY A POSTCRASH FIRE. FUEL CONSUMPTION WAS ABOUT 11 POUNDS PER MINUTE. THE PILOT BEGAN THE FLIGHT WITH ABOUT 266 POUNDS OF FUEL; DURING THE 17 MINUTE FLIGHT, THE ENGINE WOULD HAVE CONSUMED ABOUT 190 POUNDS OF FUEL. UNUSABLE FUEL FOR THE HELICOPTER WAS 64 POUNDS. OPERATIONS AT MINIMAL FUEL REQUIRED FUEL TANK CROSSFEEDING.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT PLANNING/PREPARATION AND SUBSEQUENT FUEL STARVATION, DUE TO AN INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF FUEL. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: THE PROXIMITY OF HIGH OBSTRUCTIONS.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX94FA106
- Event ID
- 20001206X00635
- Case number
- LAX94FA106
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: ab993e7bc9efd6275b19c7c14abefc5f285927eedbb4ee924062836cfe16c5de; retrieved 2026-09-21T00:15:36.582Z.