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SEA82FYK08 · Kaman HH-43F

22 Feb 1982 · Sutherlin, OR, United States

Kaman HH-43F · Accident: airframe, component or system failure while maneuvering

From Sutherlin, OR to Sutherlin, OR

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Event

NTSB case
SEA82FYK08
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

Kaman HH-43F

Aircraft type
Kaman HH-43
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
N4524
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Sutherlin, ORTo Sutherlin, OR
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 · turn to reverse direction
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 system, main rotor blade › Failure, total
  • Rotor system, main rotor blade › Separation

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

NTSB narrative

THE HELICOPTER WAS BEING USED ON A LOGGING OPERATION. AFTER RELEASING A LOAD FROM A HOVER OUT OF GROUND EFFECT, THE PILOT BEGAN TO TURN AND ACCELERATE. ABOUT TWO-THIRDS TO THREE-FOURTHS OF THE WAY THROUGH A 180 DEGREE TURN, THE AIRCRAFT BEGAN A SUDDEN, VERY VIOLENT, RAPID VIBRATION. THE PILOT RECALLED BEING THRASHED ABOUT WHILE THE HELICOPTER ROLLED TO THE RIGHT AND CRASHED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT ONE OF THE RIGHT ROTOR BLADES HAD FAILED. A 9.5 FT SECTION OF THE OUTBOARD LEADING EDGE ALONG WITH APPROXIMATELY A 3.5 FT PIECE OF THE BLADE TIP HAD SEPARATED. THEY WERE FOUND ABOUT 1/4 MILE FROM THE MAIN WRECKAGE. AN EXAMINATION OF THE BLADE REVEALED THAT THE STAINLESS STEEL CONDUCTOR STRIP, PN K711583-11, HAD BEEN PULLED LOOSE FROM THE BOLT WHICH HELD IT ON THE TOP SIDE OF THE BLADE. THE BOTTOM BOLT HOLE WAS ELONGATED AND THE BOTTOM OF THE STRIP WAS STRETCHED. THE PAINT SHOWED WHIP MARKS RADIATING OUT FROM THE INBOARD ATTACH POINT. A NEARBY TREE HAD NO EVIDENCE OF ROTOR CONTACT.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record SEA82FYK08
Event ID
20020917X02623
Case number
SEA82FYK08
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: 0713b641e51b241d7982eca8a015b7a2ee3feb9f58d7694e83eecb74b91a5c8c; retrieved 2026-09-22T03:10:39.215Z.