Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Springfield Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Springfield, Missouri 65721
Wednesday, August 7, 2002 10:26 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was substantially damaged during a forced landing shortly after takeoff. The pilot stated: "Approximately one minute after departure, I felt and heard a noise in the aircraft. We were approximately 200 to 300 feet above the ground and our airspeed was approximately 60 knots. The aircraft immediately began to yaw to the right. The anti-torque pedals immediately became ineffective. I lowered the collective to prevent the aircraft from yawing all the way around. This was effective, but resulted in a loss of altitude." The aircraft impacted immediately adjacent to an interstate highway, 1.25 statute miles from the departure airport. A post accident examination revealed the tail rotor transmission housing had failed and the tail rotor assembly had departed the aircraft. It was subsequently located approximately 3/8 statute mile prior to the main impact site, along the route of flight. The NTSB Materials Laboratory examined the tail rotor transmission housing and tail rotor assembly mounting bolt. Features of the fracture surfaces on both components were consistent with overload failures. No indications of fatigue were found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Overload failure of the tail rotor transmission housing (gearbox) for undetermined reasons, which resulted in an inability to adequately control the aircraft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1026 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Springfield |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 65721 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371254N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0931334W |
| Event Location Airport | Springfield Downtown |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3DW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 110 |
| Airport Elevation | 1374 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 275 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SGF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1267 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 14423 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 7 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1822 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA--Kansas City FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N98MP |
| NTSB Number | CHI02TA239 |
| 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 | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | 369A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 680542 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 79 |
| Airframe Hours | 3181 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Missouri State Highway Patrol |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1510 E. Elm Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Jefferson City |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 65102 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 3DW |
| Departure City | Springfield |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1015 |
| 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 | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 16 2003 8:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |