Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Venice, Louisiana 70091
Thursday, January 9, 2003 15:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the initial descent, at 800 feet agl, the pilot felt a shudder and heard a noise from the helicopter. One of the passengers reported he observed the right baggage door was open and flapping. The helicopter began to yaw to the left, then started to spin, and the pilot inititated an autorotation to the water. Subsequently, the helicopter impacted the water and came to rest partially submerged. The left side float deployed; however, the right side float was not activated. Prior to the accident flight and the engine operating, the pilot dropped off a passenger, another passenger loaded his baggage in the right aft cargo compartment and boarded the helicopter. According to the pilot, the passenger had received a safety briefing regarding the operation of the helicopter's doors and latches. Examination of the helicopter revealed the lower forward latch had been closed; however, it did not engage and secure the door to the striker plate and fiberglass door frame. The tail rotor blades and vertical fin exhibited scratch marks and residual white material that was consistent with foreign object debris (FOD). The one-piece tail rotor drive shaft was sheared just aft of the splined portion of the drive shaft. The failure of the right float was not determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of tail rotor drive as a result of baggage coming in contact with the tail rotor blades after the aft cargo door was not secured. A contributing factor was the passenger's failure to follow the procedures for properly securing the helicopter's doors and latches.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/9/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Venice |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70091 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 291500N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0891030W |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 315 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| 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 | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14599 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Tex Air Helicopters |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 9 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1530 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N22TV |
| NTSB Number | FTW03LA081 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aerospatiale |
| Aircraft Model | AS-350-BA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1591 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4630 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 15 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 58.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 5390.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TEX-AIR HELICOPTERS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8919 Paul B Koonce |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77061 |
| 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 | TXEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Main Pass 61A |
| Departure State | GM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1440 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 11LA |
| Destination City | Venice |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2003 4:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |