Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Galliano, Louisiana 70354
Sunday, March 13, 2005 9:05 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 1,514-hour pilot landed and remained parked on a platform in the Gulf of Mexico for approximately 10 minutes with the main rotor RPM at ground idle. While parked, the pilot grabbed the flight manifest and placed it in his lap to make an entry. While his head was down making the entry, the pilot had a sensation that the helicopter was "rocking backwards", and he grabbed both controls in an effort to "level" the helicopter. The pilot lifted up on the collective and pushed forward on the cyclic. The tail boom separated from the fuselage and both sections of the helicopter fell off the platform and into the water. Bell Helicopter Operations Safety Notice (OSN 206L-82-4), addressed tail boom skin compression wrinkles in all Bell model 206L/L-1/L-3 helicopter operations. The Notice stated, "Past 206 experience and flight tests...have revealed the tail boom and aft fuselage can be damaged if during an autorotation landing the main rotor RPM is allowed to decay below 70 percent RPM. Applying collective pitch in excess of that required will in some instances result in excessive flapping of the main rotor during or after touch down. This can cause a resonant response that can damage the tail boom and or aft of the fuselage. Touch down rotor RPM above 70 percent RPM is preferred. Upon ground contact collective pitch should be reduced smoothly without delay while maintaining cyclic pitch near the center position. Long ground runs with the collective up, or any tendency to float for a long distance prior to skid contact should be avoided." When asked how this accident could have been prevented, the operator stated, "Pilot should have remained more vigilant in monitoring control input and position. More aggressive use of control friction would have minimized the possibility of this occurrence." Examination of the wreckage revealed the tail boom separated forward of the horizontal stabilizer, consistent with an autorotation/low RPM failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's abrupt input of the collective while the main rotor RPM was at idle, which resulted in a separation of the tail boom.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/13/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Galliano |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70354 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 291000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0902000W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.91 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17712 |
| NTSB Notification Source | BTR FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 14 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N480RA |
| NTSB Number | DFW05CA088 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | B-206L-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45401 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ranger Aviation Parts, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Rotorcraft Leasing Co LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 430 N. Fola road |
| Operator City | Broussard |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70518 |
| Operator Code | YTRA |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Gulf of Mexico |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Gulf of Mexico |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - idling rotors |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 4 2005 2:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |