Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Raymondville, Texas 78580
Friday, May 18, 2001 10:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter had been in flight for approximately 5 minutes when the main rotor rpm began to decrease. The "clutch light" illuminated and the "low rotor horn sounded." The pilot initiated an autorotation to an open field; however, he did "not have enough altitude" to clear some trees. The helicopter contacted the trees and impacted the ground "hard." The main rotor drive belts were found separated from the drive wheels. An examination of the helicopter by an aircraft mechanic and an FAA inspector revealed that the drive belts were "frayed and ripped." No anomalies were noted with the rest of the drive system. The helicopter was issued an airworthiness certificate on May 27, 1998. Review of the helicopter's maintenance records revealed that it had undergone its last annual inspection on February 10, 2001, at an aircraft total time of 409.2 hours. There was no record of the drive belts being replaced during the life of the helicopter. According to the helicopter manufacturer, the drive belts are to be changed on condition, and there is no life limit on the belts; however, the belts usually get replaced during the helicopter's 2,200-hour overhaul. At the time of the accident, the helicopter had accumulated a total of 488 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the main rotor drive belts while maneuvering which resulted in a loss of main rotor drive. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/18/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1000 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Raymondville |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78580 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10680 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 18 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2108 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 9 2001 3:21PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | San Antonio, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7087X |
| NTSB Number | FTW01LA124 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2829 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | Feb 10 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 78.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 488 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James C. Short |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 522 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cotulla |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78014 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Raymondville |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 955 |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 21 2001 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MORJU |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |