Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Medina, Ohio 44256
Sunday, February 29, 2004 13:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The amateur built helicopter was in cruise flight at an altitude 1,100 feet above the ground, when the pilot heard a pop and loud bang. He immediately initiated an autorotation and felt that he had the helicopter under control, until it began to pitch down. Due to strong vibrations, the pilot was not able to read any of the instruments, including rotor RPM. The helicopter struck trees and came to rest in a residential area. During the impact, a main rotor blade struck the tail boom in the area of the horizontal stabilizer. Examination of the helicopter revealed that the tail boom was severed, the tail rotor drive pulley was split in half, the tail rotor drive belts were broken, and the third bulkhead was fractured into several pieces. All of the main rotor drive belts and pulleys remained attached. Continuity of the cyclic and collective controls was confirmed; and no engine abnormalities were noted. One tail rotor blade was severed at the pitch pin. Both tail rotor blades exhibited dents; however, they did not display the rearward bending of spar and skin that would be consistent with blade rotation at impact. Due to the impact damage, the pre-impact condition of the tail rotor drive system could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A failure of the helicopter's tail rotor drive system for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/29/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Medina |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 44256 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 410726N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0815143W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1351 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 135 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CAK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1228 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| 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) | 17215 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Great Lakes Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 29 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cleveland |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N198BG |
| NTSB Number | NYC04LA079 |
| 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 | Geoffrion |
| Aircraft Model | Rotorway Exec 162 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 10 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Brian C. Geoffrion |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Willowick |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 44095 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Atwater |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Medina |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 16 2004 10:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| 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 | -- |