Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Willcox, Arizona 85643
Wednesday, April 2, 2003 8:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot executed an emergency landing after experiencing a drive belt failure. During cruise flight, the alternator light illuminated and the ammeter showed a drop. The pilot turned off all nonessential electrical equipment. The pilot heard a "thump," which was followed by the smell of burnt rubber. About 15 seconds later, the clutch light illuminated and the pilot heard a "thud." The pilot lowered the collective and both lights continued to illuminate. The pilot then entered an autorotation and pulled the clutch circuit breaker. As the helicopter settled from the flare, it contacted a "clump" of dirt. The helicopter tipped forward, which bent the forward portion of the skids, and resulted in the main rotor striking the tail boom. No preimpact anomalies with either the airframe or engine were discovered. The main rotor drive belts were found in the drive compartment in a shredded condition. The alternator belt was not recovered.
I
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the alternator belt which resulted in the failure of the main drive belt.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/2/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 800 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Willcox |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85643 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321443N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1095341W |
| 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 | 755 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 57 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 20 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 13 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 3840 |
| 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) | 16122 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 4 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-Scottsdale |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N233TR |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA123 |
| 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 | Robinson |
| Aircraft Model | R-44 II |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10062 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 10.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tamiry Aviation LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Thomas Hughes |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | St. Charles |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63301 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KTUS |
| Departure City | Tucson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KSTL |
| Destination City | St Louis |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 29 2004 5:56PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |