Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
San Angelo, Texas 76904
Wednesday, May 20, 1998 17:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a demonstration of an autorotation, the helicopter landed hard. The pilot reported that during the autorotation, after completing a flare, he added 'max' allowable power to initiate a power recovery and directional control was lost. Subsequently, the helicopter landed with a slight yaw. The passenger reported that during the autorotation the pilot stated that 'the spot we would land was visible basically right above the pedals.' The aircraft touched down 'firm,' approximately 90 degrees from the direction of travel. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the tailboom forward attachment fitting was fractured. Both tail rotor blades were attached to the hub and fork; however, one blade was found fractured and separated in the spar root area at the end of the hub spindle, and there was a dent in the leading edge near the tip. The tail rotor drive shaft was found twisted and disengaged from the upper pulley aft drive adapter. Examination of the tailboom forward attachment fitting, P/N:269A2323, and associated parts found that the fracture surface was 'consistent with an overstress failure.' There were 'no signs of preexisting cracks found.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper touchdown executed by the flight instructor, which resulted in the tail rotor impacting the ground.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | SAN ANGELO |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76904 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 105 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SJT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1916 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4867 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 751 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 17 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N41TH |
| NTSB Number | FTW98LA279 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 269C |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1747 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 21 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 178 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EQUI SKY, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5101 CO. ROAD 430 |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN ANGELO |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76904 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LEWIS H. TRAVLAND |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8926 HANGER ROAD |
| Operator City | SAN ANGELO |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 76904 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |