Branch County Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Coldwater, Michigan 49036
Tuesady, October 12, 1993 16:45 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The certificated helicopter pilot who was receiving dual instruction was at the controls in a hover. The pilot and the CFI both reported hearing a bang followed by loss of directional control. The student pilot made a successful hovering autorotation. The investigation revealed the tailboom support strut attachment lug had failed at the left aft cluster fitting. The failed part was examined and found to have failed due to fatigue.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the fatigue failure of the tailboom support strut attachment lug.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/12/1993
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1645
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City COLDWATER
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49036
Event Date Year 1993
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BRANCH COUNTY MEMORIAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID D96
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 959
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1645 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 340
Weather Observation Facility ID BTL
Elevation of weather observation facility 953
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 24
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 12
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 20
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 300
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) --
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) 1975
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 12 1993 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1815
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 1:42PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N7032U
NTSB Number CHI94LA013
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 HUGHES
Aircraft Model 269A
Aircraft Series Identifier 269A
Aircraft Serial Number 114-0327
Certified Max Gross Weight 1670
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 22 1993 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 65
Airframe Hours 4695
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SHALLOW CORP.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1050 S. STATE ST.
Aircraft Owner City DOVER
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19901
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name BROOKS AERO, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address BROOKS FIELD
Operator City MARSHALL
Operator State MI
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 49068
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 5D8
Departure City MARSHALL
Departure State MI
Departure Country
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone EDT
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 Hover
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
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 --