Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Phoenix, Arizona 85050
Thursday, July 27, 2000 9:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The helicopter had a tail rotor failure while bringing the engine up to full power before takeoff. In preparation for departure, the pilot released the control frictions and began to increase the throttle. As the power approached 95 percent, but before engaging the governor, the aircraft began to shake uncontrollably and the antitorque pedals began to move under his feet. He immediately reduced the throttle to idle, took out the checklist, and shutdown the aircraft per the instructions. He noted visible damage to the tail rotor and vertical stabilizer.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The helicopter had a tail rotor failure. The reason for the failure is undetermined.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/27/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 900
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City PHOENIX
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85050
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 7
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 856 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID PHX
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 13000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 43
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.74
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12464
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 27 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1454
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 6 2002 3:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N888KB
NTSB Number LAX00LA279
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Robinson
Aircraft Model R-22 Beta
Aircraft Series Identifier R-22
Aircraft Serial Number 3072
Certified Max Gross Weight 1370
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 Jul 15 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 25
Airframe Hours 125
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Kelly & Susan Brown
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Scottsdale
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85260
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name GORDON JIROUX
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 14700 AIRPORT DRIVE, SUITE 228
Operator City SCOTTSDALE
Operator State AZ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 85260
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code E25
Departure City WICKENBURG
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 822
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SDL
Destination City SCOTTSDALE
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2002 2:10PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length 600
Runway Width 250
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --