LAX91LA377 · Kaman HH43 B/F
Rogers Leasing Kaman HH43 B/F · Accident: loss of control in flight while maneuvering
From Clovis, CA (no airport) to an unrecorded destination
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's injuries. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX91LA377
- 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
Kaman HH43 B/F
- Aircraft type
- Kaman HH43
- 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
- N53RH
- Operator
- Rogers Leasing
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Clovis, CA (no airport)To not recorded
- 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
- Loss of control in flight
- 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
- Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, inadequate
- Pilot in command › Performance data, not followed
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE CERTIFICATED COMMERCIAL HELICOPTER PILOT WAS ENGAGED IN A SALVAGE OPERATION OF THE WRECKAGE OF A WORLD WAR II F-4U CORSAIR, UTILIZING AN EXTERNAL 50 FOOT LONG LINE. ON THE FOURTH TRIP OF THE DAY, THE RADIAL AIRCRAFT ENGINE WITH PROPELLERS ATTACHED, WAS BEING LIFTED FROM RUGGED MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN AT 11000 FEET MSL. THE ENGINE WAS POSITIONED AT THE EDGE OF A ROCKY GLACIAL CHUTE THAT DESCENDED AT ABOUT A 45 DEG ANGLE. THE DENSITY ALTITUDE OF 13000 FEET AND THE EXTERNAL LOAD WEIGHT, EXCEEDED THE PERFORMANCE CAPABILITY OF THE HELICOPTER. AS THE HELICOPTER ATTEMPTED TO LIFT THE ENGINE, GROUND PERSONNEL OBSERVED THE HELICOPTER IN A NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE. THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES STRUCK SURROUNDING TERRAIN. THE HELICOPTER AND ENGINE TUMBLED DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE, DISINTEGRATING AS IT DESCENDED ABOUT 1/2 MILE DOWNSLOPE. ONE GROUND CREWMEMBER RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES FROM FLYING DEBRIS. THE PILOT RECEIVED FATAL INJURIES.
Probable cause
THE FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO ADEQUATELY CALCULATE THE HELICOPTER PERFORMANCE. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS A DELAY IN JETTISONING THE EXTERNAL LOAD; THE PILOT'S OVERCONFIDENCE IN HIS ABILITIES; AND EXCEEDING OF THE HELICOPTER'S HOVER ABILITY DURING HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE CONDITIONS.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX91LA377
- Event ID
- 20001212X17917
- Case number
- LAX91LA377
- 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: 04c99d9c5fe2ba217a5f6d1d582dd54014d9d18886bad28eb5259327d4f1b262; retrieved 2026-09-21T01:36:25.663Z.