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LAX90FA230 · Hughes 369D

23 Jun 1990 · Hanapepe, HI, United States

Smoky Mountain Helicopters Hughes 369D and Smoky Mountain Helicopter Hughes 369D · Accident: midair collision while maneuvering

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Event

NTSB case
LAX90FA230
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
0 · 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

Aircraft 1 · Hughes 369D

Aircraft type
Hughes 369
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
N8605F
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Port Allen Airport (PAK), PORT ALLEN, HITo 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 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
Maneuvering
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
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Aircraft 2 · Hughes 369D

Aircraft type
Hughes 369
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
N1103N
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Port Allen Airport (PAK), PORT ALLEN, HITo 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 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
Maneuvering
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
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Minor

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Clearance, not maintained

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

ONE HELICOPTER, N8605F, WAS CONDUCTING A PART 91 SIGHT-SEEING FLIGHT FOR HIRE WITH FOUR PAYING PASSENGERS. THE OTHER HELICOPTER, N1103N, WAS PLANNING TO PHOTOGRAPH N8605F FOR ADVERTIZING PURPOSES. N1103N HAD TWO PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS WITH ASSISTANTS ON BOARD. THE HELICOPTER WERE FLYING PARALLEL COURSES. N8605F WAS AHEAD AND BELOW N1103N. THE PILOTS INDICATED THERE WAS ABOUT 100 HORIZONTAL AND 50 FEET VERTICAL SEPARATION. THE PILOT OF THE N8605F THEN LOOKED FORWARD AND THEN TO THE RIGHT. THE PILOT OF PHOTOGRAPHING HELICOPTER WAS ABOUT TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE OTHER PILOT VIA RADIO. THE HELICOPTERS THEN COLLIDED. THE LEFT FRONT SKID OF THE PHOTOGRAPHING HELICOPTER STRUCK THE REAR OF THE OTHER HELICOPTER'S MAIN ROTOR SYSTEM.

Probable cause

FAILURE OF PILOT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHING HELICOPTER TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE AND AVOID COLLISION.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record LAX90FA230
Event ID
20001212X23446
Case number
LAX90FA230
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: cab7ad0125c1f7496dcf065d7d6eac6e3f7e6dd5904367fff7fefc8dc531c0ef; retrieved 2026-09-23T05:50:04.637Z.