Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Arlington Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Arlington, Texas 76011
Tuesady, December 10, 1991 8:55 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE EXPERIMENTAL CERTIFICATED HELICOPTER WAS BEING TEST FLOWN AS PART OF THE HEIGHT VELOCITY DIAGRAM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 206L4 CERTIFICATION PROGRAM. THE TEST PILOT WAS CONDUCTING ABORTED TAKEOFFS WHEN AT 30 FEET AND 50 KNOTS HE INITIATED AN AUTOROTATION. THE COLLECTIVE WAS LOWERED SLIGHTLY AND A HIGH DESCENT RATE OCCURRED. DURING THE DESCENT THE MAIN ROTOR RPM DECREASED AND THE HELICOPTER LANDED HARD RESULTING IN TAILBOOM BUCKLING AND SEPARATION OF THE TAIL ROTOR DRIVE SHAFT. THE PILOT'S APPLICATION OF COLLECTIVE BEFORE TOUCHDOWN DID NOT ARREST THE DESCENT RATE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE HELICOPTER'S AUTOROTATIONAL LANDING PERFORMANCE CAPABILITY WAS EXCEEDED. FACTORS WERE THE PROPER DESCENT RATE WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE PIC AND SUFFICIENT INFORMATION FROM THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT PROVIDED.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/10/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 855 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | ARLINGTON |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76011 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ARLINGTON MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | F54 |
| 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 | 635 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 850 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DFW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 630 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2041 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 46289 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2770X |
| NTSB Number | FTW92LA040 |
| 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 | BELL |
| Aircraft Model | 206L-3+ |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 206L-3+ |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51022 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| 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 | Aug 14 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 3577 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 482 |
| Aircraft Owner City | FORT WORTH |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76101 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 482 |
| Operator City | FORT WORTH |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 76101 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |