Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ernest A. Love Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Prescott, Arizona 86301
Thursday, March 24, 2005 12:07 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter's main rotor drive belts broke on the base leg and the helicopter rolled over during the subsequent autorotation and landing. The instructor said that he monitored his student during the preflight inspection of the helicopter. No evidence of any problem was detected. The instructor reported that there were no outstanding airworthiness issues with the helicopter. The accident occurred while he was preparing his student for the private pilot certification check ride. The lesson plan/maneuver that he intended the student to practice was a run-on landing. On base leg to runway 21R, while cruising about 60 knots at 300 feet above ground level, the helicopter's nose suddenly yawed left and then right. Concurrently the helicopter shook, and the clutch light illuminated. The instructor took the controls from his student and entered an autorotative descent. About 20 feet above ground level he commenced a cyclic flare for the landing. The underlying terrain was soft sand, and the helicopter rolled over during touchdown. Upon exiting the helicopter, the instructor observed that the V-belts were shredded. A company mechanic had performed a 100-hour inspection about 4.3 hours prior to the accident flight. During the inspection, he had loosened the self-locking nut on the belt actuator housing assembly and had rotated the down-limit stop screw upward until the screw bottomed out in the actuator housing in the full up position. The mechanic forgot to reposition the stop screw and tighten the nut. This action resulted in the main rotor drive V-belts becoming excessively loose. The belts exited their seated position on the lower pulley sheave and were severed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The company mechanic's improper maintenance actions, which resulted in the total failure of the main rotor drive belt system on approach to landing. A factor was the soft terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/24/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1207 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Prescott |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86301 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344036N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1122436W |
| Event Location Airport | Ernest A. Love Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PRC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 5045 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PRC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5045 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 7 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 19664 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 24 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1216 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N225G |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA122 |
| 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 | R22 Beta |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3563 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1370 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 1060 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Cheyenne Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4 Meridian Ct. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kalispell |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59901 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Guidance Helicopter, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6565 Crystal Lane |
| Operator City | Prescott |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 86301 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PRC |
| Departure City | Prescott |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PRC |
| Destination City | Prescott |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2006 4:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21R |
| Runway Length | 4846 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |