FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

ATL89FA112 · Bell 206B

22 Mar 1989 · Atlanta, GA, United States

Dooley Helicopters Bell 206B · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) during initial climb

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
ATL89FA112
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

Bell 206B

Aircraft type
Bell 206
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
N5004F
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
Initial climb
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)
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
Wire, transmission
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, oil › Starvation
  • Lubricating system, oil port/passage, internal › Blocked(partial)
  • Turboshaft engine, gas generator turbine shaft › Fatigue

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

NTSB narrative

DRG TAKEOFF FROM A HELIPAD AT DUSK, THE ENG LOST PWR AS THE HELICOPTER WAS CLIMBING THRU APRX 75' AGL. THE PLT INITIATEDAN AUTOROTATION TO A PARKING LOT, WHICH REQUIRED THE USE OF COLLECTIVE TO REACH THE LOT. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER HIT AN ELECTRICAL WIRE OVER THE PARKING LOT, THEN CRASHED. AN EXAM REVEALED THE TURBINE SPUR ADAPTER GEARSHAFT HAD FAILED FROM FATIGUE. ALUMINUM RICH METAL DEBRIS WAS FOUND BLOCKING THE OIL DELIVERY TUBE TO THE GEARSHAFT; THE OIL INLET SCREEN FILTER WAS MISSING; AND THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF OVERHEATING & EXCESSIVE WEAR OF THE GEARSHAFT SPLINES. THE 100 HR INSPN CHECKLIST FOR THE ENG REQUIRED THE REMOVAL & INSPN OF THE ENG OIL SYS FILTER. WITH THE FILTER REMOVED, THERE WAS DIRECT ACCESS TO THE SPUR ADAPTER GEARSHAFT OIL DELIVERY TUBE & THE OIL TUBE CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY CUP FILTER.

Probable cause

FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE ENGINE SPUR ADAPTER GEARSHAFT IN AN AREA WHERE THERE WAS A LACK OF LUBRICATION (OIL STARVATION) DUE TO A PARTIALLY BLOCKED OIL DELIVERY TUBE. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: INATTENTIVE MAINTENANCE OR SERVICING OF THE AIRCRAFT BY UNKNOWN MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL, THE LIGHT CONDITIONS AT DUSK, AND THE ELECTRICAL (TRANSMISSION) WIRE.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record ATL89FA112
Event ID
20001213X27825
Case number
ATL89FA112
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: fa20c1d82072e55fde8ba3139a743b353dc02e0e4d58f6b6434e762c86a4d6a4; retrieved 2026-09-21T15:57:15.824Z.