Los Angeles Airways Flight 417

About

Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 was a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter that crashed on August 14, 1968 in the city of Compton, California. All eighteen passengers and three crew members were killed. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire. According to the National Transportation Safety Board the probable cause of the accident was fatigue failure. The accident happened when the arbitrarily yellow designated blade, one of five main rotor blades, separated from the spindle that attached the blade to the rotor head. Following failure, the helicopter was uncontrollable and it fell to the ground. The fatigue crack originated in an area of substandard hardness and inadequate shot peening. This was the second crash of a Los Angeles Airways helicopter operating between Los Angeles International Airport and the Anaheim Disneyland Heliport in the year 1968 (see Los Angeles Airways Flight 841).