LAX88FA254 · Sikorsky S-58BT
Aris Helicopters Sikorsky S-58BT · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) while maneuvering
From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX88FA254
- 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
Sikorsky S-58BT
- 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
- N94AH
- Operator
- Aris Helicopters
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, CATo Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- 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
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Fluid, fuel › Starvation
- Pilot in command › Fuel tank selector position, improper
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE HELICOPTER WAS PERFORMING EXTERNAL LOAD WORK TO AND FROM THE ROOF OF A 15 STORY CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX IN A HEAVELY BUILT-UP AREA. THE PILOT SAID THAT JUST AFTER LIFTING A LOAD FROM THE ROOF HE EXPERIENCED A DUAL ENGINE FLAME OUT AND HE EXECUTED AN AUTOROTATION TO THE ONLY AVAILABLE AREA. A MARINA HARBOR CHANNEL. WITNESSES HEARD A DEFINITE SOUND CHANGE INVOLVING BOTH THE ROTOR AND THE ENGINE NOISE. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE FUEL SYSTEM WAS SET UP TO FEED BOTH ENGINES FROM THE AFT TANK. THE CAPACITANCE TYPE FUEL SYSTEM GAGES SHOWED ZERO IN THE AFT TANK AND 690 POUNDS IN THE FOWARD TANK. EXAMINATION OF THE HELICOPTER SHOWED NO PREIMPACT MECHANICAL MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES. THE PILOT HAD LIMITED EXPERIENCE IN THE SIKORSKY S58T.
Probable cause
MISMANAGEMENT OF THE FUEL SYSTEM BY THE PILOT WHICH RESULTED IN FUEL STARVATION AND A DUEL ENGINE FLAMEOUT. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE IN THE SIKORSKY S58T.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX88FA254
- Event ID
- 20001213X26263
- Case number
- LAX88FA254
- 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: 01bebe0e6898ff546e5f2f96d7f168fdb5f94c6b2e40a4563b55a1cb1028e171; retrieved 2026-09-21T16:07:12.058Z.