SERS · AMERICAN EUROCOPTER LLC AS350B2 · 2013-09-20 · Canton, MS, USA
Event
NTSB number
ERA13LA421
Event ID
20130920X14012
Type
Accident
Date
2013-09-20
Location
Canton, MS, USA
Coordinates
32.609283, -90.029792
Injuries
Highest injury
SERS
Fatal
0
Serious
1
Minor
3
Uninjured
0
Total aboard
4
Aircraft
Make
AMERICAN EUROCOPTER LLC
Model
AS350B2
Registration
N810LE
FAR Part
135
Engines
1
Damage
SUBS
Conditions
Light
NITE
Weather
VMC
Probable cause
The pilot’s improper decision to continue flight with a low engine oil pressure warning light instead of landing immediately in accordance with the flight manual emergency checklist. Contributing to the accident was the maintenance technician’s failure to clean the rear bearing in accordance with the engine manufacturer’s guidance when replacing the 2nd-stage turbine wheel, which resulted in an obstruction of solidified oil carbon in the rear bearing chip detector housing union, subsequent oil exhaustion, and engine failure.