Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ann Arbor Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
Saturday, September 9, 1995 12:17 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight the helicopter sustained the loss of the entire tail rotor system. The helicopter landed successfully with no additional damage or any injuries. Examination revealed the loss was initiated by a fatigue crack in the skin of one of the tail rotor blades. The manufacturer determined that a manufacturing process used in making the blades initiated the fatigue failure due to a grinding process which removed material from the tail rotor skin.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the manufacturer's inadequate quality control which led to a fatigue failure of the tail rotor blade.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/9/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1217 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | ANN ARBOR |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48108 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ANN ARBOR MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ARB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 839 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1045 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ARB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 839 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1813 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 9 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N232UM |
| NTSB Number | CHI95FA320 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 230 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 230 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23013 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8400 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 5 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 1188 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FIRST SDCURITY BANK OF UTAH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 79 SOUTH MAIN ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CORPORATE JETS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT |
| Operator City | WEST MIFFLIN |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 15122 |
| Operator Code | BAQA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1212 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | TOLEDO |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 2:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 3500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |