FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

SEA90GA180 · Bell 204B

11 Sept 1990 · KELLER, WA, United States

Cazn-Arc Helicopters Bell 204B · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
SEA90GA180
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 204B

Aircraft type
Bell 204
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
CGKQH
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo 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
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
Total loss of engine power (mechanical 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

  • Aircraft weight and balance › Exceeded
  • Company maintenance personnel › Maintenance, replacement, improper
  • Miscellaneous eqpt/furnishings › Improper
  • Turbine assembly, turbine blade › Separation

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

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT WAS CONDUCTING FIRE FIGHTING MULTIPLE WATER DROPS USING AN EXTERNAL LOAD 'BAMBI BUCKET'. EARLY THAT DAY THE BUCKET'S CINCH STRAP HAD BEEN REPLACED. ON THIS DROP THE PILOT RADIOED THAT HE WAS HEAVY...3600 POUNDS. A PUFF OF SMOKE WAS OBSERVED, AND THE HELICOPTER CRASHED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT A LOSS OF POWER HAD OCCURRED DUE TO THE LOSS OF ALL 2ND TURBINE ROTOR BLADES, PRECIPITATED BY A STRESS RUPTURE FAILURE OF 3 CONSECUTIVE BLADES INDUCED BY HIGH OPERATING TEMPERATURES. THE CINCH STRAP WAS BOUGHT AT A HARDWARE OR SPORTING GOODS STORE - IT WAS NOT THAT PROVIDED BY THE MANUFACTURER. DISASSEMBLY OF THE BUCKET CONTROL HEAD WIRING ASSEMBLY REVEALED EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT INTERMITTENT OPERATION.

Probable cause

THE TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO TURBINE BLADE SEPARATION WHILE THE PILOT WAS OPERATING IN THE AIRCRAFT AT A GROSS WEIGHT THAT EXCEEDED PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS FOR EXISTING METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. FACTORS INCLUDE THE FAILURE OR INABILITY TO JETTISON THE EXTERNAL LOAD, THE USE OF AN IMPROPER CINCH STRAP, AND AN IMPROPERLY ASSEMBLED AND MAINTAINED WIRING CONNECTOR.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record SEA90GA180
Event ID
20001212X24367
Case number
SEA90GA180
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: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1990-09-12.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: a487804edb920f5a424b4d8c4d062bf5ec9fb9b19a1c020b5bcc59fb88b16864; retrieved 2026-09-21T02:13:10.532Z.