LAX00FA130 · Bell 212
Bell 212 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure en route
From Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) to Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX00FA130
- 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
Bell 212
- Aircraft type
- Bell 212
- 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
- N415B
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), Fresno, CATo Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Sacramento, CA
- 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 91: General Aviation
- 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
- En route · cruise
- 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
- Airframe, component or system failure
- 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
- Rotor drive system, main rotor mast(drive shaft) › Bumped
- Rotor drive system, main rotor mast(drive shaft) › Separation
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The twin-engine helicopter impacted terrain following a mast bumping event and subsequent the loss of control. The helicopter was the second in a flight of two and trailed the lead helicopter by a short distance. The lead pilot noticed the second helicopter wreckage after the pilot did not receive a radio response from the accident pilot; he reported receiving no distress transmissions from the accident pilot. The first helicopter pilot reported they were in cruise flight between 400 - 500 feet agl at 100 knots. He said that he encountered a large bird about 1 mile before the accident. A 12-foot section of one of the main rotor blades was found early on in the wreckage debris path, which equaled approximately 1,000 feet in length and was oriented along the flight's course. Cut portions of the left skid, battery door, and the left elevator were found early on in the debris path. The separated main rotor blade underwent an overhaul approximately 8.3 hours prior to the accident. The main rotor mast displayed evidence of a mast bumping event, with indentations corresponding to the blade stops. The mast separated at the blade stop area. The commercial helicopter pilot was wearing a cast on his right leg, which extended from below his knees to his toes. The pilot received a check-out flight after not flying for 3 months. According to the pilot who provided the check-out flight, the accident pilot performed a few traffic pattern operations and was found to be able to fly. A mechanic who flew with the accident pilot during the first legs of the flight indicated the pilot was able to fly with no problems. Though there was evidence of a mast bumping event, the initiating event is unknown. Examination of the wreckage disclosed no anomalies that would have prevented normal system operation and the engines displayed evidence of rotation at the time of ground impact. The main rotor blade with the separated section was examined and it was noted that its failure was a result of overload separation and did not delaminate in flight.
Probable cause
the in-flight separation of the main rotor mast while in cruise flight following a mast bumping event. The reason for the mast bumping event was not determined.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX00FA130
- Event ID
- 20001212X20659
- Case number
- LAX00FA130
- 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, coordinates. 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: ff409787141503d6424838ca9e1b1c87b9ee85b2d8da116b97e24831dfe5e02c; retrieved 2026-09-20T21:23:59.205Z.