Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Hondo, Texas 78583
Tuesady, March 24, 1998 13:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness observed the Bell 206-A helicopter 'flying fast' in a southerly direction at about 500 to 600 feet agl. Flames were coming from the helicopter's right rear side in the vicinity of the engine compartment, and very little smoke was observed. Prior to descending from view, the helicopter appeared to be in controlled flight. Subsequently, the aircraft impacted the ground and was destroyed by the in-flight and postimpact fire. Examination of the engine compartment revealed that the step portion of the forward firewall where the throttle and fuel line pass through had localized bluing; however the fuel line connector which was still attached to the firewall fitting, did not exhibit any fire damage. The #3 tail rotor drive shaft segment was found 66 feet prior to the initial impact scar. It was fractured with fire damaged fiberglass cloth wrapped around the forward end of the fractured shaft. According to a NTSB metallurgist, 'the fracture was consistent with an overstress after exposure to elevated temperatures.' The helicopter was returning to Guatemala after completion of schedule maintenance performed in the United States.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The engine compartment fire due to undetermined reasons, which resulted in the in-flight separation of the tailboom.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | RIO HONDO |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78583 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 0 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 35 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 932 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 24 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2001 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | TGJET |
| NTSB Number | FTW98FA156 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206-A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206-A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 86 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 23 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 2457 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PINARSA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1 AVENIDA 6-05 FIOVA 14 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GUATEMALA CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | OF |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 00000 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | PINARSA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | AVE HINCAPE Y 18, ZONA 13 |
| Operator City | GUATEMALA CITY |
| Operator State | OF |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 00000 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 3R5 |
| Departure City | NEW BRAUNFELS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BRO |
| Destination City | BROWNSVILLE |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 5 2001 1:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |