Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Yuma Mcas International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Yuma, Arizona 85365
Monday, November 24, 2003 19:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter encountered a total loss of drive to the rotor system a few seconds after takeoff, about 20 feet above the ground. The helicopter touched down hard and was substantially damaged. Company mechanics had performed maintenance on the helicopter that involved handling of the rotor drive shaft and a flex coupling. The flex coupling is normally secured with three bolts and self locking nuts. The manufacturer's maintenance procedure requires that during installation, the nuts are torqued and then cotter pins are inserted. During the wreckage examination, the bolts were found sheared, and no evidence of cotter pins were found. According to the manufacturer, even if the cotter pins are not installed, if the bolts are adequately torqued, they should not become loose.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The malfunction of the rotor drive system due to improper maintenance, which resulted in the uncoupling of the drive shaft during takeoff-initial climb. A factor associated with the accident is the undertorqued drive system bolts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Yuma |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85365 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 323918N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1143624W |
| Event Location Airport | Yuma MCAS International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | YUM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 216 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1856 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | YUM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 216 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| 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) | 29.89 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KYUM 250156Z 04006KT 10SM FEW060 BKN120 OVC1 |
| 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) | 17019 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 25 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1134 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-SDL |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N846BP |
| NTSB Number | LAX04TA052 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Eurocopter France |
| Aircraft Model | AS 350 B3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3542 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4961 |
| 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 | Nov 20 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 813 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | U.S. Border Patrol, Air Operations |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9 Butterfield Trail Blvd, Ste. C |
| Aircraft Owner City | El Paso |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79906 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | YUM |
| Departure City | Yuma |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1859 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | YUM |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 4 2004 3:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |