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FTW83FA043 · Bell 206B

22 Nov 1982 · BUCCANEER OIL F

Air Logistics Bell 206B · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route

From GALVESTON BLK.2, GM to C · Galveston, TX

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Event

NTSB case
FTW83FA043
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 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
N144AL
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From GALVESTON BLK.2, GMTo C · Galveston, TX
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
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Adequate rotor RPM, not maintained
  • Reduction gear assembly, accessory drive bearing › Disabled
  • Reduction gear assembly, accessory drive bearing › Failure, total
  • Reduction gear assembly, accessory drive bearing › Fatigue
  • Reduction gear assembly, accessory drive bearing › Incorrect

Not plotted · Location withheld: coordinates are missing, conflicting, invalid, or have no accepted acquisition method. No substitute location has been invented.

NTSB narrative

THE ACFT WAS FOUND FLOATING INVERTED ABOUT 1.5 MI FROM THE POINT OF DEPARTURE. THE TAILBOOM HAD SEPARATED & THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE M/R BLADES HAD STRUCK THE TAILBOOM. THE WINDSHIELD & CHIN BUBBLE WAS BROKEN OUT. AN OIL PUMP GEAR TOOTH WAS FOUND ADHERING TO THE LOWER CHIP DETECTOR PLUG. THE OIL PUMP HAD 3 TEETH MISSING FROM A GEAR. THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF A SMOOTH ROUND OBJECT GOING THROUGH THE PUMP & JAMMING THE GEAR TEETH. THE BALL SEPARATOR GAGE FOR A BEARING (MRC P/N 6859435-G) HAD BROKEN APART ALLOWING BALLS TO FALL OUT. THE GEAR WHICH DRIVES THE FUEL CONTROL & OIL PUMP THEN MOVED SIDEWAYS FAR ENOUGH TO BECOME UNCOUPLED FROM ITS DRIVE GEAR. THE SEVEN TANGS ON ONE-HALF OF THE BALL SEPARATOR CAGE HAD SEPARATED. THE SEPARATED BEARING WAS NOT AN AUTHORIZED TYPE FOR USE IN THIS ENGINE. THE ENGINE MANUFACTURER ISSUED A COMMERCIAL ENGINE BULLETIN DATED 9/30/82 CALLING FOR ALL UNAUTHORIZED BEARINGS TO BE REMOVED FROM SPARE STOCK & SCRAPPED.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record FTW83FA043
Event ID
20020917X04642
Case number
FTW83FA043
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: 124effeb046d8910c0d784f4af9d17ba70a4e82f0fc96a344dc4422c87d6c436; retrieved 2026-09-21T07:29:11.918Z.