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LAX85FA286

1985-06-19 · SQUAW VALLEY, California, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N214RM has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (JABIRU USA SPORT AIRCRAFT LLC J250-SP, built 2006), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE HELICOPTER WAS ENGAGED IN LOWERING A LARGE POLE TO THE GROUND WHEN THE ENG FAILED CATASTROPHICALLY DUE TO A TOTAL FIRST TURBINE ROTOR DISC FAILURE. THE PLT TURNED THE ACFT DOWN THE MOUNTAIN BUT WAS UNABLE TO GAIN ENOUGH SPEED TO AUTOROTATE. THE ACFT IMPACTED AT AN ANGLE AND BURNED. NO PARTS OF THE FIRST TURBINE ROTOR DISC WERE RECOVERED, THEREFORE, A FAILURE MODE COULD NOT BE DETERMINED. THE DISC HAD ACCUMULATED 2776 CYCLES AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT. LYCOMING SERVICE BULLETIN NO. 5508-0002 REPORTS THE SERVICE LIFE LIMIT FOR THE DISC IS 2700 CYCLES. AN ENG TEARDOWN REVEALED NOTHING ELSE WRONG WITH THE ENG THAT COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO ITS FAILURE OTHER THAN THE FIRST TURBINE ROTOR DISC DISINTEGRATION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_LAX85FA286.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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