Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Destin, Florida 32450
Sunday, July 2, 2000 11:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he had been flying the helicopter at an altitude of about 500 feet, 100 knots indicated airspeed, and 65 to 70 pounds per square inch torque, when he felt a high frequency vibration through the antitorque pedals. He said the vibration dissipated but soon began again, and became excessive with 'strong' forces in the pedals. The forces were soon followed by a loud 'bang' and the aircraft yawed violently to the right, and the nose pitched down. He said the antitorque pedals had no effect, so he lowered the collective control and applied aft cyclic control input to the stop the yaw, and level the aircraft. He said the yaw rate slowed, but did not stop, and at about 70 to 80 degrees of right yaw, he reduced the throttle in an attempt to further reduce/control the yaw condition, and the aircraft yaw stopped. He was then able to execute an autorotative landing to an open field. The on scene examination of the aircraft showed that the stabilizer, as well as an 18-inch section of the hollow portion of the tail had separated from the aircraft in flight. The 90-degree gearbox also partially separated from the aircraft, and was only held by one remaining bolt, and there were contact marks and paint transfer signatures, consistent with those from multiple tail rotor blade strikes at the fracture point. The aft 6 inches of the tailboom with attach points, tail rotor gearbox, and tail rotor assembly were retained for metallurgical examination. The examination revealed that the fractured tail rotor gearbox studs were fatigue failures. In addition, both elastomer bearings in the tail rotor drive fork were examined, and were found to have failed due to fatigue.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
improper maintenance inspection of the tail rotor by maintenance personnel and improper preflight inspection of the tail rotor by the pilot, which resulted in worn elastomeric bearings being continued in service, resulting in failure of the tail rotor assembly, and damage to the helicopter during a hard landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1150 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | DESTIN |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32450 |
| 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 | 1155 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VPS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 30000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2400 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1057 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1445 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 3:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N88MP |
| NTSB Number | MIA00TA200 |
| 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 | 369D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 369D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 911027D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 7 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 4556 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | FL. DEPT OF NATURAL RESOURES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3900 COMMONWEALTH BLVD MS600 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TALLAHASSEE |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32399 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PFN |
| Departure City | PANAMA CITY |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| 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 | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 2 2001 4:09AM |
| 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 | -- |