Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sapulpa, Oklahoma 74067
Tuesady, November 9, 2004 17:31 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 2,000-hour helicopter pilot reported that after an uneventful departure, and while at an altitude of approximately 500-800 feet and an airspeed of 90 knots, he heard a loud "bang." Following this "bang," tail rotor effectiveness was lost, and the helicopter was forced into a sideways, nose-down attitude The pilot performed an autorotation and made a hard landing into a field. A "dusk" light condition prevailed, and the helicopter came to rest on its left side. Examination of the wreckage by the FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, revealed that some of the fly-away items and some medical supplies, normally stored in the baggage compartment, were found scattered along the route of flight short of the main wreckage. Examination of the baggage compartment door revealed that both door latches were unlatched, and the door was partially open. Further examination of the tail rotor drive shaft revealed a torsional fracture of the tail rotor drive shaft. Frayed fibers and material consistent with clothing or a blanket were found throughout the tail rotor assembly and tail rotor hub. The pilot reported that there were two oxygen containers in the cargo compartment that were stacked on one another and reached approximately the same height as the latch release button on the interior side of the baggage compartment door.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of tail rotor drive as a result of a blanket coming in contact with the tail rotor blades, after the baggage compartment door unlatched during flight. A contributing factor was the "dusk" light condition that prevailed at the time of the accident.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1731 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Sapulpa |
| Event State | OKLAHOMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 74067 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 360222N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0955904W |
| Event Location Airport | Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RVS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 250 |
| Airport Elevation | 638 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RVS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 638 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 316 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17294 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA OKC FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 9 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1845 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2005 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1075P |
| NTSB Number | DFW05LA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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 | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206L1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45348 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4150 |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 14033 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Air Evac Life Team |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 306 Davis Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Plains |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 65775 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | RVS |
| Departure City | Sapulpa |
| Departure State | OK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1740 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CUH |
| Destination City | Cushing |
| Destination State | OK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - emergency |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 25 2006 2:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\HAMG |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | Yes |
| Medical Flight | -- |