Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Friday, September 10, 2004 12:50 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was contracted by Georgia Power Company to complete inspections and maintenance on a number of their transmission power lines. After completing a shield wire splice procedure, both the pilot and passenger heard a "pop" in the rear of the helicopter. The helicopter began to spin "hard to the right". However, to avoid hitting the shield wire, the pilot increased the collective pitch, which accelerated the turn. After clearing the shield wire and making the second turn, the pilot reduced the throttle to slow the spin, leveled the helicopter and collided with trees in a level flight attitude. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the helicopter prior to the accident. Examination of the helicopter revealed the main rotor blades separated, the left skid separated, the windshield broken, upward crush damage along the bottom of the fuselage aft of the skid, the tail rotor assembly separated at driveshaft, crush damage along the sides of the tail section and the horizontal stabilizer detached from the tail. The tail rotor assembly and part of the tail rotor drive shaft were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington D.C. for further examination. The Materials Lab determined that the tail rotor assembly failed due to a fatigue fracture of the input gearshaft in the tail rotor gearbox assembly. This fracture led to jamming of the gearbox and the resulting overstress fracture of the tail rotor drive shaft, which was consistent with the engine driving the shaft at the forward end with the aft end stopped.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The tail rotor assembly failed due to a fatigue fracture of the input gearshaft in the tail rotor gearbox assembly, which resulted in a loss of tail rotor control and subsequent collision with trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/10/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1250 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Waynesboro |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30830 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 330229N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0820010W |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KAGS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 144 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 19 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| 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) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17884 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1340 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Atlanta FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5211R |
| NTSB Number | ATL04LA181 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Hughes |
| Aircraft Model | HU-369-D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1161D |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3550 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 30 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 38 |
| Airframe Hours | 9984.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Helibase LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 104 Sanders Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carrol Valley |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 17320 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Haverfield Corporation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 104 Sanders Road |
| Operator City | Carroll Valley |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 17320 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | External Load |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KDNL |
| Departure City | Augusta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Hover |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 16 2005 3:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |