Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Secaucus, New Jersey 07094
Tuesady, July 10, 2001 6:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot had just completed a spraying pass, and was heading westbound about 100 feet and 60 mph, parallel to power lines and 15-20 feet above trees. He suddenly felt something "break", and the helicopter started to yaw. The pilot realized that the helicopter had experienced a tail rotor failure, but he didn't want to autorotate into trees. He reduced the throttle slightly, maintained altitude, spun around two to three times, and cleared the trees. He headed for a gravel area and rolled off the throttle, but couldn't stop the spin. He attempted to cushion the landing, but the helicopter hit the ground hard. On-scene examination revealed that the Thomas coupling disc assembly on the aft end of the aft short shaft was twisted and bent, and the tail rotor drive shaft just aft of the coupling was bent and separated, about mid-length. A retaining bolt was missing from the Thomas coupling. The missing bolt and washers were found in the helicopter's tailrotor drive shaft tunnel area, and appeared to be undamaged. The self locking retaining nut for the bolt was not located. Metallurgical review revealed that the Thomas coupling at the aft end of the aft short shaft was missing one of the bolt and nut sets that attached the coupling to the splined adapter at the forward end of the first segment of the tail rotor drive shaft. The forward face of the flange adapter contained a series of rotational scoring and impact marks from contact with the bolt heads and discs. The pattern of damage was consistent with the short shaft rotating around the bolt opposite from the missing bolt. Additional examination of the Thomas coupling and associated components revealed that portions of the normal seating positions for the head of the missing bolt and the washer were relatively free of dirt and grease, and that the bore surface of the hole for the missing bolt in the flanged adapter at the forward end of the first segment contained thread imprint marks.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Under torque of a Thomas coupling self-locking nut for undetermined reasons, which resulted in the loss of the corresponding retaining bolt, and subsequent separation of tail rotor drive shaft segments. A factor was the unsuitable terrain beneath the pilot when the loss of tail rotor occurred.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 630 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Secaucus |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07094 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 651 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TEB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.72 |
| 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) | 13093 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EASTERN REG OPS CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 10 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 1 2003 7:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Teterboro |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3298G |
| NTSB Number | NYC01LA168 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1909 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 10 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 2023 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AirLinx Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 338 Belmar Boulevard |
| Aircraft Owner City | Farmingdale |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07727 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Raco Helicopters |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | Monmouth Executive Airport, P.O. Box 555 |
| Operator City | Farmingdale |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 07727 |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Jersey City |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 605 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2002 12:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |