Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Seneca Falls, New York 13148
Friday, March 23, 2001 15:20 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Bell 206 L-1 helicopter was on a positioning flight. While in cruise flight, the pilot added power for a slow climb, and experienced multiple "bangs" and yawing. He reduced power, determined that he had lost tail rotor thrust, and set up for a precautionary landing in a wooded area. Upon touchdown, the helicopter rolled over. A bolt was found missing from the Thomas coupling located between the aft end of the aft short shaft, and the foward segment of the tail rotor drive shaft. In addition, the bracket for the forward hanger bearing was fractured. Metallurgical examination of the flange from the Thomas coupling with the missing bolt, revealed thread imprint marks on the inside of the bolt hole bore, and lipped material at the edge of the bolt hole bore. The hanger bearing mount had failed in overstress with no evidence of progressive cracking. The helicopter had been operated for 15.2 hours since the Thomas coupling had been disassembled and put back together. The mechanic reported that he had reused the bolts and self-locking nuts, and tightened them to the proper torque. The missing nut and bolt were not recovered. A check of the FAA database for SDRs revealed no other occurrences in the preceding 5 years.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of a bolt in a Thomas coupling on the tail rotor drive shaft, for undetermined reasons, during climb, while operating over unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/23/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1520 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Seneca Falls |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13148 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 425736N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0764936W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PEO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 903 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 28 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 22 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.68 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -51 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10427 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Eastern Region Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 23 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1635 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2001 10:56AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Rochester, New York |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2138Y |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206 L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45639 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 15 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 14017.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RTS Helicopter Services Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 85 Chestnut Ridge Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Montville |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07645 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | EMS AirService of New York, Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2420 Brick Yard Road |
| Operator City | Canandaigua |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 14425 |
| Operator Code | NYSA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | D38 |
| Departure City | Canadaigua |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1505 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NK71 |
| Destination City | Marcellus |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 2 2009 1:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |