Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Daugherty Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Long Beach, California 90807
Monday, September 5, 2005 13:33 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter descended to ground impact after the tow rope of a banner became entangled in the tail rotor system, resulting in the in-flight separation of the tail rotor and tail rotor gearbox. During liftoff for a banner tow flight, the top rear corner of the banner became tangled with the top front corner. The pilot continued with the climb believing the banner would untangle itself. When the banner did not untangle itself, the pilot attempted to maneuver the helicopter and the banner back to the drop point on the airport, but during a slow descent, the banner rotated to a horizontal position, assumed an airfoil shape, and floated higher than the helicopter's position. The pilot said he could no longer see the banner in his rear view mirror, only the tow rope extending up and aft, and he was concerned that the rope might get into the tail rotor. The pilot chose not to release the banner as he descended slowly toward the drop point. The tow rope became entangled in the tail rotor system and the tail rotor gearbox separated from the tail boom. The helicopter then began to rotate. The pilot reduced the throttle to idle in an attempt to reduce the torque and rotations about the vertical axis. He then lowered the nose to gain airspeed. The helicopter impacted terrain in a near vertical attitude. The helicopter was equipped with an electrical and manual release for the banner tow hook.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's decision not to release the banner when it became entangled on itself, which resulted in the banner tow rope becoming ensnarled with the tail rotor system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/5/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1333 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Long Beach |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90807 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334904N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1180906W |
| Event Location Airport | Daugherty Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LGB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 58 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LGB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 58 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.95 |
| 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) | 20982 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 5 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2007 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Long Beach, California |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N667JM |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA289 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 133: Rotorcraft Ext. Load |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bell |
| Aircraft Model | 206B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3444 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3350 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 11596 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sundance Helicopters, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5596 Haven Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89119 |
| 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 | KBML |
| 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) | Banner Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LGB |
| Departure City | Long Beach |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 5 2006 4:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |