Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sanford Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Orlando, Florida 32773
Tuesady, June 25, 2002 12:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During a maintenance check flight of the helicopter, two auto-rotations at max gross weight with a neutral center of gravity were conducted. During the second maintenance check flight, on the initial run-up the pilot engaged the rotor clutch and heard a loud "bang". The cyclic control pulled from the pilot's hand, and the pilot rolled the throttle to ground idle to regain control the cyclic control. The helicopter rocked from left to right and rolled over on its side. Examination of the airframe found that the cyclic lateral control rod end bearing on the transmission fractured. Examination of the fractured surfaces showed features typical of overstress. No other mechanical or flight control malfunction was reported by the pilot.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the cyclic lateral control rod end bearing, and subsequent dynamic rollover.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/25/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Orlando |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32773 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 284630N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811424W |
| Event Location Airport | SANFORD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FA02 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 60 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 113 |
| 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 | 32 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 129 |
| 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) | 13744 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 25 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2300Z |
| NTSB Number | ATL02LA130 |
| 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 | Sikorsky |
| Aircraft Model | S-55-QT |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 55-750 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7700 |
| 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 | 11 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 11 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | 6894 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Foxtrot Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 12515 Willows Rd. NE S |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kirkland |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98034 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Whisper Jet |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2923 Carrier ave. |
| Operator City | Sanford |
| Operator State | TL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 32773 |
| 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) | Flight Test |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SFB |
| Departure City | Sanford |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | SFB |
| Destination City | Sanford |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 6 2003 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |