Full-Scale Inverted Pirouetting Autorotation
Yes, this really happened. "Heligator" (heligator(at)worldnet.att.net) posted the following to the uspilots.net h-list on July 2, 1999. Gordon Mills of PHI (that's "Petroleum Helicopters, Inc," the full-scale helicopter operator, not "Precision Helicopters, Inc," the radio controlled helicopter manufacturer) verified the story, adding that the helicopter had later been pulled up from the bottom of the sea and was being examined "across the street" at one of PHI's facilities.

NTSB Identification: FTW99LA162
Accident occurred JUN-09-99 at EI-313, GM
Aircraft: Bell 412, registration: N3893S
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On June 9, 1999, approximately 1535 central daylight time, a Bell 412 helicopter, N3893S, was substantially damaged while in cruise flight near EI-313, an offshore platform located in the Gulf of Mexico. The two airline transport rated commercial pilots, sole occupants, were not injured. The helicopter was owned and operated by Petroleum Helicopters, Inc., of Lafayette, Louisiana.

Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a company flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 repositioning flight. The flight originated from the GB-172 offshore platform and was destined for Morgan City, Louisiana.

According to written statements provided by the pilots, the helicopter was level at 5,500 feet msl with a cruise power setting of 70-75 percent torque, when they heard a "loud bang." The flying pilot reported that the helicopter "immediately and violently tucked down and left then rolled over inverted and [was] spinning to the right." The helicopter reportedly entered a dive with the nose pitched "straight down and still turning."

The flying pilot stated that he "rolled the throttles to idle and bottomed the pitch," along with placing the cyclic to the right and applying full left pedal. Approximately 1,000 feet above the ocean, the helicopter "leveled out." Just prior to set down in the water, the non-flying pilot inflated the emergency floats. The helicopter came to rest upright in the water and the two pilots escaped from the right side cargo window and entered a life raft.

The helicopter rolled over to the left inverted, due to the ocean waves. Prior to the helicopter rolling inverted in the water, both pilots saw that the 90 degree gear box and vertical fin cowling were missing along with a 12-16 inch section of drive shaft.

The flying pilot reported that, at the time of the accident, there were scattered clouds at 3,500 feet, the visibility was at least 20 miles, and there were a few isolated thunderstorms in the distance.

From: "Mills III, Gordon J."

Hello Nate,

This morning I got the pilots names. I was told it is public knowledge/public record, so it is not a problem to divulge the names :-).

Jerry Steinle - Captain
Jim Norris - Second in Command

Rumor has it that after they were rescued from the water and brought aboard an offshore platform, lightning struck within 50 ft of them. Some days it's just better to stay in bed.

So now we have to come up with a catchy name for inverted pirouetting autos <G>... Maybe the Steinle-Norris auto.

I second Gordon's suggestion. The inverted pirouetting autorotation ought to be known as the "Steinle-Norris" from this day forward. These guys rock.