Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Buffalo, Wyoming 82834
Sunday, March 11, 2001 13:20 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Approximately 20 minutes after takeoff on a cross-country flight, the pilot noticed the clutch light was on and he smelled burning rubber. The pilot conducted a power on autorotation and at approximately 50 feet above the ground, he heard a loud "pop" and the aircraft "dropped" to the ground, skidded about 15 feet, and rolled over on its side when a skid collapsed. Inspection revealed that the upper clutch actuator bearing had failed. All required inspections regarding the bearing assembly had been performed. Procedures used by the manufacturer require both the pilot and mechanic to listen for unusual bearing noise at specific intervals.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
failure of the rotor drive system clutch assembly which rendered the aircraft uncontrollable.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/11/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1320 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | BUFFALO |
| Event State | WYOMING |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 82834 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 315 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10496 |
| NTSB Notification Source | faa nw operations center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 11 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1520 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 19 2001 10:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | CASPER, WY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N144MB |
| NTSB Number | DEN01LA067 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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 | R22 BETA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1449 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 17 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 1140 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MILLS SECURITY ALARM SYSTEMS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2601 W. 8TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | CINCINNATI |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45204 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | JERRY L. GRANT |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BOZEMAN |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59717 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | GCC |
| Departure City | GILLETTE |
| Departure State | WY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BZN |
| Destination City | BOZEMAN |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 21 2001 4:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |