Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gillespie Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
El Cajon, California 92020
Tuesady, October 3, 2000 14:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While positioning the helicopter from the ground to a storage cart, the pilot lost directional, made a hard landing, and the tail boom struck the ground. Prior to the loss of directional control, the pilot saw something depart the tail section. He attributed the loss of directional control to a tail rotor failure. He initiated an autorotation over the landing cart. He maneuvered away from the cart in order to land on the ground and prevent a partial landing on the cart. The on-scene investigation revealed the aft drive shaft coupling was detached from the tail rotor drive shaft. Three bolts retain the coupling. One bolt was found attached to the coupling, another bolt was found on the ground, and the third bolt, and two of the retaining nuts, were not located. Neither bolt exhibited stripped threads or deformation. The last maintenance performed on the helicopter was by the previous owner. A track and balance of the tail rotor system was performed about 48 flight hours prior to the accident. According to the manufacturer's maintenance instructions, the balancing is accomplished by placement of washers under the nuts that are used to secure the bolts that attach to the aft drive shaft coupling. These are the same nuts that were not located at the accident site. Maintenance instructions also specify that the bolts in this area should be checked for proper torque and safety after an inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper torquing procedure of the aft tail rotor drive shaft coupling by maintenance personnel after tracking the tail rotor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | EL CAJON |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92020 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | GILLESPIE FIELD AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEE |
| 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 | 387 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 387 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| 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) | 68 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 61 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 10926 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 12 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2001 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N189ND |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA009 |
| 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 | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS350BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AS350BA |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2152 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4630 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 2 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 73 |
| Airframe Hours | 5764 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VORTEX HELICOPTERS, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | #2 READ'S WAY SUITE 220 |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEW CASTLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19720 |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SEE |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Oct 19 2001 4:45AM |
| 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 | -- |