Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Highland, Michigan 48356
Sunday, March 16, 2003 20:15 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was substantially damaged when the tail rotor impacted a roadway sign while repositioning at night for departure. The medical evacuation flight had landed on a roadway to pick-up a patient. The medical crew had departed the helicopter prior to the reposition. The pilot was the only occupant on-board at the time. The pilot reported he began to taxi. He stated he "cleared the tail to move left into the turn around along M-59. I started to move the aircraft which now was facing south into M-59 ... when the tail rotor hit a steel reflector post. The aircraft became airborne to around five or six feet when I lowered the collective and rolled the throttles to idle to stop the aircraft rotation." The aircraft impacted on the left rear skid first and came to rest one-hundred eightly degrees from its initial heading. A post-accident examination revealed the tail rotor and gearbox had departed the helicopter. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance to the roadway sign. Contributing factors were the failure of the tail rotor gearbox, the roadway sign and the low lighting conditions (night).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2015 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Highland |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 48356 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 423800N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0833730W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1953 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 85 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PTK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 980 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 22000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| 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) | 13937 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 18 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1147 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA -- Detroit FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N431UM |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| 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 | 430 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 49040 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9300 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 15 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 39.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 1929.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wells Fargo Bank |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 299 S. Main Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Salt Lake City |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111-226 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CJ System Aviation Group |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1500 E. Medical Center Drive |
| Operator City | Ann Arbor |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 48109-030 |
| 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 | 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 | MI32 |
| Departure City | Ann Arbor |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1959 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| 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 | Taxi - aerial |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2003 3:40PM |
| 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 | Yes |
| Medical Flight | Medical Emergency |