Bell OH58A accident near Salinas, California, September 18, 1999
On September 18, 1999 at about 1:50 pm local time, a Bell OH58A (helicopter), registered N5800K, was substantially damaged in an accident near Salinas, California. It was an aerial application (crop spraying) flight under agricultural flying rules (Part 137). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance from all ground obstacles during a low altitude aerial application flight.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 18, 1999 · about 1:50 pm local time
- Place
- Salinas, California · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Bell OH58A · all OH58As on the register
- Registration
- N5800K · registry record · serial 71-20843
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application (crop spraying) flight · agricultural flying rules (Part 137)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot was performing low level aerial application work. Wires ran perpendicular to his flight path at the end of a crop row and a berm was located just in front of the wires. The pilot planned to fly under the wires. As he flew under the wires he heard a loud noise to his rear and the helicopter began to rotate clockwise. He increased pitch on the collective and climbed to approximately 100 feet. He could not control the rotation and completed an autorotation to a hard landing. A ground witness saw the helicopter's tail contact the berm. The tail rotor blades were fractured and separated, and, the tail rotor drive shaft was fractured midway between the aft short shaft and the tail rotor gearbox. The fracture exhibited torsional overload signatures angled aft along a 45-degree plane from the bottom to the top of the shaft. The torsional twist was in a clockwise direction as viewed from the rear. The tail rotor drive shaft normally rotates clockwise as viewed from the rear. No preimpact malfunctions were identified with the tail rotor gearbox or pitch control.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 18,000 hours in all; 2,500 in this make and model; 122 in the last 90 days; 18,000 as pilot in command; 3,000 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,659 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, August 26, 1999; 43 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,200 lb
- Seats: 5
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Allison T63-A-720 (turboshaft); 0 hours total
- Operator: R&B Helicopters, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: SNS at 1:20 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: dawn
- Wind: from 220° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 600 ft; clear
- Temperature: 54°F (12°C), dew point 52°F (11°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:53 pm from SNS, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.